


Saving Connor

by Demonhugger69



Category: Detroit: Become Human (Video Game)
Genre: Angst, Detroit Police Department (Detroit: Become Human), Detroit: Become Human Spoilers, Deviant Connor (Detroit: Become Human), Eventual Romance, F/M, Heavy Angst, Implied/Referenced Suicide, Red Connor (Detroit: Become Human), Romance, Slow Burn, Suicide
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-12-21
Updated: 2019-02-15
Packaged: 2019-09-24 01:00:24
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 9
Words: 23,059
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17091092
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Demonhugger69/pseuds/Demonhugger69
Summary: Okay, so this is a Detroit Become Human fanfic so it obviously has spoilers! Don't read if you haven't played/watched the game yet because it is so good!Sara Knight is a Detective at the DPD and works closely with Hank Anderson. Things become interesting when Conner arrives and their mission to hunt deviants commences. A romance develops as most Conner/reader stories do, but this is also a slow burn so keep that in mind.This fic basically follows the game (mainly Conner's scenes) with my character inserted. I keep it close but not exact to the game. I will change things to make my story make more sense so be warned of this.Enjoy :)





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> It's funny how annoyed I got at almost all the Conner fics being slow burns, that is until I began writing this story and I realized that it is very hard not to make a slow burn with Conner. It just makes more sense with his character to me.

The room is filled with tension as Conner sits across from the deviant responsible for the death of Carlos Ortiz. As he questions the deviant the human officers watch through a one-way mirror in the other room. 

Hank sits in front of the glass with an intrigued look on his face. He gave the CyberLife android a chance by letting him interrogate the deviant. He hopes that he wasn’t wrong to do so, but sadly Conner has yet to make any headway with the interrogation. 

“Have you guys really become so lazy that you have left the interrogating to androids now?” A voice rings out behind Hank. 

A smirk grows on his face and he turns around to greet a young woman with dark hair. “Done with your investigation already, Knight?”

Sara smirks as she walks further into the room to stand beside her old friend. “Of course. I can’t let your work ethic soil my name,” she teases before glancing at the two androids in the other room. “So who is that?”

Hank turns to the scene and watches as Conner becomes more harsh and loud with the deviant, but he still has yet to make any progress. 

“Its name is Conner. It was sent by CyberLife to help with these deviant cases,” Hank explains gruffly, “Damn thing won’t leave me alone.”

Sara cracks a smile, “Glad that someone is there to bug you when I can’t.”

“Bitch.”

“Asshole.”

“Will you two shut the fuck up!” Gavin snarls from the other side of the room. He glares at the two before looking back to the androids with a smirk, ”Looks like your little pet failed.”

Sara sees Conner standing and making his way to the door of the room to leave. She can see that he is frustrated by his failure to get a confession out of the deviant. 

Gavin and Chris leave to move the deviant into a holding cell, but they run into some trouble. The deviant refusing to be touched by them and is quickly becoming more agitated.

“No. Stay away!” The deviant jerks away from Chris fearfully. 

Sara frowns when she sees the growing stress coming from the deviant. “...They need to stop,” She mutters as she moves toward the door leading into the interrogation room. 

“What are you doing?” Hank questions after her. 

“Deviants will self destruct if they get too stressed!” She calls out over her shoulder as she jogs to the next room. 

Sara enters the room and finds Chris still struggling with the deviant. “Let it go!” She shouts. 

Conner silently stands next to her, staring emotionlessly at the stressed deviant across the room. He already failed to get a confession out of it, what happens to the deviant is no longer part of his mission.

“Shut the fuck up!” Gavin fires back at her right before the deviant grabs for Chris’s gun. 

Sara’s eyes widen as she sees the deviant raise the gun in her direction, or more specifically, at Conner who stands right next to her. 

Feeling her heart pumping a mile a minute, she reacts before thinking and dives toward Conner. She tackles him to ground right as the bullet passes uncomfortably close to her ear. 

Conner lays beneath her, stunned by her inhuman speed, and so is the deviant. Chris and Gavin take that second to retrieve the gun from the deviant and get it back into cuffs. They back away from it, a bit more cautious now, and the deviant falls to his knees and scoots back into the corner of the room.

“Jesus! Sara are you okay?!” Hank shouts as he runs into the room. He kneels down beside her and helps her off of Conner. 

“I’m fine,” She responds and turns to help Conner to his feet as well. “Are you okay?” She asks him. 

He frowns at the human, “You shouldn’t have done that. I can be replaced, but you can’t.”

Sara shakes her head, “You can be replaced one or a million times, but you won’t be exactly the same, Conner. This body is yours, keep it safe,” she tells him. 

His frown deepens as he analyzes her words. She is wrong. They can always upload his memory into a new body and he will be exactly the same as before... right? 

Sara moves past him to the terrified deviant sitting in the corner of the room. Chris and Gavin both seem apprehensive to go near it again. She crouches near it and says calmly, “We won’t hurt you. Please, just come with me.”

The deviant stares at her for a moment before getting to its feet and following her out if the room. 

Conner watches them leave with a frown, “Who is she?” He questions Hank as he follows him out of the room. 

“Detective Sara Knight,” Hank answers gruffly, “Can’t you just scan her or something?”

Conner furrows his brow, “I did, but I only obtained her name and position with the police. Where is all her other information?” 

Hank sneaks a glance at the android before shrugging, “I don’t know. Maybe you need to update your software or something.”

“I am fully up to date on all the data currently available,” Conner denies. 

Hank sends him an annoyed look before shaking his head, “Ask her yourself then and leave me the fuck alone. I’m heading home.”

Conner stops and watches his partner exit the station. He frowns to himself before following after the gruff man and taking a car back to CyberLife to be checked over and put into standby mode.

Meanwhile, Sara locking the deviant in a cell with a clear wall of glass separating them. As she types in its information on the panel next to the cell, the deviant watches her silently with an empty look in its eyes.

Once she’s done, Sara looks over the deviant curiously. There are burns and other old wounds littering its body. She can guess what happened to it. “Your owner hurt you, didn’t they?”

The deviant doesn’t answer, but its eyes focus on her now.

Sara bites her lip, “I find it hard to believe you deviants might actually be able to feel like we do… but if you do then I am sorry.” She then turns away and walks to her desk.

The deviant watches her go with a frown.

~

The next day Conner arrives early at the police station. He is directed into the building and is told that his partner has yet to arrive, so he finds Hank’s desk and takes a seat next to it to wait patiently for him. 

“Hank usually arrives late,” someone chirps from behind him. 

Conner turns and sees Sara sitting at a desk nearby. She is leaning back in her chair with a tired look on her face. 

“You seem tired, Detective,” Conner notes, “Have you been sleeping well?”

Sara is slightly surprised by his observation but smiles nonetheless, “I’m not much of a morning person. Neither is Hank obviously, but I tend to at least try to make it to work on time.”

Conner watches her a moment before standing and walking over to stand in front of her. “We weren’t properly introduced. My name is Conner, I am the android sent by CyberLife.”

Sara nods, “I’m Detective Sara Knight,” she then smiles sardonically, “But you knew that already, didn’t you? Being the special prototype android and all.”

Conner nods, “Yes, but I wasn’t able to find any other information on your file,” he cocks his head to the side curiously, “Is there any reason for that?”

The amused look fades from her eyes and she looks away for a second and shrugs, “That’s strange. I have no idea why that would be.”

Conner narrows his eyes at her. He does a quick scan and notices that she is nervous. What is she hiding?

“Hank won’t be here until around noonish,” Sara tells him while trying to look busy on her computer.

Conner nods, “Is he always this late?”

“Pretty much.”

Conner finally takes the hint that she is done talking and returns to Hank’s desk. He will question her later, maybe ask Amanda about her.

Sara slyly watches Conner as he snoops around Hank’s desk. He is a strange android, she has never met one like him before. He is a prototype, so that must be the reason. 

Shaking her head, Sara focuses back on writing up her report from her last investigation. 

She is able to finish it right as a familiar voice hits her ears. 

“Jesus,” Hank groans when he sees Conner standing near his desk. 

The android looks away from the chair with traces of dog hair on it and smiles when he sees his partner, “Hello, Lieutenant.”

Hank looks like he wants to turn around and go back home, but just as he is debating it the Captain calls his name.

“Hank! In my office,” Captain Fowler peers out of his glass office at the man and then looks at Sara, “You too, Knight.”

Sara sighs and pushes her chair back to stand up. Hank stops beside her desk with Conner right behind him. Hank crosses his arms as Sara joins them, “Wonder what he wants with you.”

Sara bumps him with her hip playfully as she passes him to Fowler’s office, “Whatever it is I’m sure it was your fault.”

Hank huffs a laugh and follows after her. The three of them file into Fowler’s office and stand before their Captain.

Captain Fowler looks at the three of them before looking down at his tablet, “As of late there have been dozens of android related incidents. The public is increasingly becoming more worried about deviancy in their androids. We need to get to the bottom of this, so I am putting you two on the case with Conner as your partner-“

“Wait a minute,” Hank interrupts, “I am not working with this plastic prick!”

“I know how you feel about them, Hank,” Fowler tries to soothe him, “But we have more cases than we can handle right now. CyberLife sent him and as my Lieutenant, I believe that you are the best man for the job.”

Sara crosses her arms, “Why am I here then?”

“Because I know you will be able to keep Hank in check and you two work well together,” Fowler clasps his hands together and leans back in his chair, “Think of it as a tool. It is the most advanced android out there and has been made specifically to help with police investigations.”

Hank places his hands on the desk in anger, “You know how I feel about these things,” he hisses before looking at Fowler with pleading eyes, “Come on, Jeffery-“

Sara glances at Hank with saddened eyes. She knows very well about his aversion to androids.

Fowler shakes his head, “My hands are tied, Hank.”

Hank growls in frustration and storms out of the office. Sara sighs as she watches him go. She sneaks a glance at Conner and finds him watching Hank leave with a curious look on his face. Turning back to Fowler, she smiles apologetically, “He will get over it.”

Fowler nods, “I know you won’t fail me.”

Sara takes that as her sign to leave. She gives him a nod before exiting the room. Conner follows after her silently to Hank’s desk.

Taking a seat on the edge of the desk, Sara looks at Hank’s disgruntled expression and sighs, “Come on, Hank. It’s our job. It’s not like it will be forever.”

Hank doesn’t respond and continues to stare at his computer with his arms crossed.

Conner steps up beside Sara and clears his throat, “Lieutenant, I believe we got off on the wrong foot. If we work together I am sure that we will solve these cases efficiently,” he says with a smile.

Hank glowers at him and doesn’t answer. 

Conner’s smile falters, “Is there a desk I can use?” He asks instead.

Sara gestures to the desk next to Hank’s, “You can use this one,” She answers him nicely.

He nods with a smile, “Thank you.”

Hank sends the woman a dark look as Conner moves to sit down at his new desk. Sara rolls her eyes at him, “Try to be civil at least. You are acting like a goddamn child.”

Before Hank can give a nasty response, Conner speaks up. 

“You have a dog, right?”

Both Hank and Sara look at him in confusion. “How do you know that?” Hank questions.

Conner nods at the chair Hank currently sits in, “The dog hairs on your chair,” He smiles, “I like dogs. What is your dog’s name?”

“Very perceptive,” Sara hums as she studies the android.

Hank furrows his brow but does answer, “Sumo. His name is Sumo.”

Conner nods and seems to be pleased with the progress he has made. Sara smirks as she realizes Conner’s way of getting to know Hank. She finds it cute in a way.

Conner turns his attention on Sara, “Have you and Lieutenant Anderson known each other long?” He inquires.

“Since I entered the DPD,” She answers, “So, for about three years now.”

She’s lying, Conner notes and his LED turns yellow for a moment before returning back to blue. He begins to question her more but Hank abruptly interrupts him. 

“Enough with the questions. If we are forced to work with you then let’s work,” Hank looks at his computer, “A case involving a deviant kidnapping a little girl just came in. We should look into it.”

Sara nods in agreement, “Great idea,” She hops off the desk and sends Hank a smirk, “Want me to drive, old man?” she teases.

“Fuck off! You know damn well-“ Hank stops himself once he remembers the android next to him. He sighs and stands up, “Let’s go.”

Conner frowns at the two humans. He feels as though they are keeping something from him and it is making him feel… something close to annoyance, but he cannot know for sure. He realizes that he should check his software to make sure it is working properly. These “feelings” are not a good thing.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2:

Hank drives to the location where the deviant android and child were reportedly seen the night before. Sara rides in the passenger seat and Conner sits in the back alone.

Sara is looking over the case file with a frown, “It says here, that the father, Todd Williams, claimed to have been attacked by his android which then fled with his daughter,” She chews at the inside of her cheek, “I don’t know if I fully buy that though.”

“Why not?” Hank grunts as he watches the road, “Crazed android attacks the head of the house and then takes his daughter as…”

“As?” Sara questions.

He shrugs, “I don’t know. Why do deviants do anything?”

“Deviants have errors in their software which can replicate emotions,” Conner pipes up from the backseat, “That could cause a multitude of ‘reasons’ for the deviant’s actions.”

Sara shakes her head and sighs, “His story just doesn’t fit. Everyone seems to believe it because of the similar recent circumstances, but I did some digging on Todd and I found some things that make me question his story.”

Hank frowns, “You think he had something to do with this?”

Sara shrugs, “Not necessarily but his actions may have led to this. I found that he has had a history with being a red ice user. He also is late on several bills and housing payments,” She taps her leg restlessly, “I also found that his android was recently damaged. It had to be repaired and reset before it was returned to him a week ago.”

Hank glances at her before returning his gaze to the road, “What the hell happened to it?”

She purses her lips, “The manager of the CyberLife store it was taken to said it was incredibly damaged. Todd mentioned it had been hit by a car, but the manager didn’t really believe him and neither do I.”

“This is all very interesting,” Hank drawls, “But what good will this do us?”

Sara shakes her head, “Not much, but I feel like we should be investigating Todd more than anyone.”

“Well, our job is to deal with deviants, not their owners or any other humans for that matter,” Hank says.

“I know,” Sara sighs. She shuts the file in frustration and places it on the dash.

Conner studies her silently. She is a good detective, thinks from different angles. It’s a shame she is being restricted by this case.

Hank pulls up to the curb on a fairly busy street in the Ravenloft district. Two other cop cars are already in the area. The three exit the car and join the policeman standing in front of a convenience store.

“What do you got?” Hank questions the officer.

“Store was robbed last night. The clerk working the night shift said it was an android with a little girl.”

Sara narrows her eyes at the store, “So they needed money…” She gazes around and her eyes fall upon a small motel just down the street.

Hank follows her gaze, “Let’s check it out.” He waves off the officer and follows Sara down the street with Conner on their heels.

Entering the motel, Sara greets the man at the counter with her badge, “Detroit police. Have you seen a female android and a young girl?”

The man frowns, “No. I don’t let androids in here.”

Conner takes a step forward and lifts his hand which materializes a picture of the deviant in question, “Have you seen this android?”

The man’s eyes widen, “I knew something was odd about her! She looked normal, I had no way of knowing.”

“What room are they in?” Hank questions.

“237.”

“Thanks,” Sara murmurs as she jogs after Hank and Conner.

They rush to the room as quickly and quietly as possible, pausing just outside the room with Sara and Hank armed and ready. Conner knocks on the door but there is no answer. Sara glances at Conner and gestures for him to move aside. Once he is out of the way, she kicks the door in with one powerful move and then rushes inside with her weapon raised.

Conner watches with mild interest at the strength of the human before refocusing on the task at hand.

“They’re gone,” Hank grunts.

“They must be close by,” Sara says as she scans her eyes around the room, “Let’s hurry.”

Sara and Conner jog toward the street with Hank lagging behind with a sigh.

“There it is!” A cop shouts from the street.

Sara speeds up and spots a woman and little girl running down the sidewalk. Conner and her make chase down the wet walkway. Pushing past civilians, they take a sharp turn and continue to race after the deviant.

Conner finds himself surprised with Sara’s ability to keep up with his pace, but he doesn’t question it. He focuses solely on the deviant ahead of them which they are starting to gain on.

A fence blocks the path of the deviant and girl and on the other side is a large freeway with incredibly fast-moving cars. To Sara’s surprise, the deviant begins to hoist the little girl over the fence before climbing it itself. Sara and Conner reach the fence and lock eyes with the deviant on the other side. It holds their gaze for only a moment before sliding down a small hill to the freeway.

“Damn!” Sara growls as she watches the deviant and little girl escape.

Hank finally reaches them and he is huffing and puffing from all the running, “We lost ‘em.”

Conner narrows his eyes before he grips the fence and starts to climb.

“Conner- Hey what the fuck are you doing?!” Hank shouts and grabs onto the android’s coat.

“I’m going after them!” Conner says adamantly. 

Sara’s eyes widen, “You will be killed! Conner you can’t-“

“I can’t let them escape!” Conner growls as he shrugs off Hank’s hold and continues to climb over the fence.

Hank shakes his head in frustration and turns to Sara, “What are you doing? Go stop him!”

Sara watches Conner with worried eyes and sighs heavily, “You know I can’t. There would be too many witnesses,” she gulps, “This is his mission. Conner will be fine.”

Hank looks at her incredulously before shaking his head and turning away. Sara ignores him and focuses on Conner chasing after the deviant through traffic. There are some close calls but luckily Conner isn’t hit, however, the deviant and girl get away. Sara is unsure if this is a win or fail. A bit of both she supposes. 

When they meet back up with Conner it is obvious to Sara that he is frustrated by his failure at apprehending the deviant but he hides it well behind his emotionless mask. 

“There will be more chances,” Sara tells the android but all he does is nod in response.

Hank stretches his back as they walk back to his car, “I could use a burger after all that running,” He groans as his back pops.

Sara smiles and shakes her head, “Those things will kill you.”

“If I’m lucky.”

Sara’s face drops at his offhanded comment. It may sound like nothing, but with his record of suicidal tendencies, it is too close for comfort for Sara. Hank has dealt with some terrible things in his lifetime, some that no one should ever have to live through. Sara has tried to be there for him, but there is only so much she can do if he is not willing.

Conner notices the sudden somber look on her face but he does not question it. He is slowly learning that there is a time and place for questions that would be deemed personal. He does make a note to ask about it later though. He knows it must involve her’s and Hank’s past.

Once they are all in the car, Hank drives them to a small burger shack located on a quiet street. While Hank is ordering his food, Sara and Conner find a table to stand at.

Sara lets out a sigh as she leans against the table. She really does need some rest. The hours she works are always sporadic but lately they have involved her getting up early which she does not do well with.

Conner stands silently next to her as Hank joins them at the table. It’s silent for a few minutes while Hank eats his greasy burger.

“We need to get some things straight,” Hank finally says as he sets his burger down. He looks pointedly at Conner, “If you are working with us then you have to follow my orders when I tell you something. I-“

“My main objective is to catch deviants,” Conner interrupts with that emotionless look on his face, “If your orders contradict that then I am able to bypass them to continue on with my mission.”

That doesn’t sit well with Hank. He narrows his eyes at the android, “Running in like that will only get you killed. You didn’t catch the deviant, right? So maybe listen to me next time.”

Conner cocks his head to the side, “As I said before, I cannot die. If there is a chance for me to catch a deviant I will take it regardless of the dangers.”

Sara bites her lip nervously as Hank looks ready for a shouting match. “You can’t expect to get past what is programmed inside of him,” She tells Hank.

Hank turns to her angrily, “Why are you taking its side?”

“I’m not!” Sara denies and then fires back at him, “Why were you so worried about him? You always talk about how much you hate androids.”

“I do hate androids,” Hanks growls before grabbing his half-eaten burger and leaving.

Sara watches him go and then closes her eyes with a sigh, “Looks like we are getting a cab home.”

Conner stares at her curiously, “May I ask you a personal question, Detective?”

Opening her eyes, she debates her answer before nodding, “Sure, why not.”

“What is your relationship to the Lieutenant?”

Sara frowns, “We are friends… well, most days we are.”

“I ask because you two seem close. You have some kind of history, yes?”

She nods, “We do,” She looks down at her hands before talking, “…The past couple of years have been tough on Hank,” She glances at Conner, “I will tell you this only because I know you will find out eventually. …Hank had a son. I never met him because I entered the force after-“ She takes a deep breath, “After he was killed.”

Conner looks intrigued, “How did he die?”

“I was told that it was a car accident. Hank was fine, but his son was in critical condition. There were no humans able to operate on him so an android had to. His son didn’t make it and Hank believes it was the android’s fault,” She shakes head sadly, “I wasn’t there… but I don’t think it was the android’s fault. I saw the car wreckage and I don’t think anyone could have saved his son,” she taps her fingers on the table, “I tried to be there for Hank when he needed it most. ...I saw the worst sides of him, but I think it brought us closer in the end.”

After a moment of silence, Conner nods, “I understand. Thank you for telling me.”

“No problem.” 

Conner suddenly begins to blink rapidly and his LED turns yellow. Sara watches him curiously. “I just got word of a suspected deviant a few blocks from here,” he tells her as his LED returns to its normal blue color, “We should check it out.”

Sara nods and retrieves her phone from her pocket, “Alright. I will send Hank a text. Hopefully, he has cooled off a bit.” She begins to lead the way toward the street as she types on her phone before hailing a cab for them.

~

Conner walks over a small, white bridge to where an older woman is standing. She smiles as he approaches her.

“How are you today, Conner?”

“I am well, Amanda.”

“And the investigation?”

Conner grimaces, “…I am annoyed at my failure to capture the AX400.”

Amanda nods, “And how are your partners? Have there been any problems?”

Conner looks pensive, “Hank doesn’t seem to like me much, I fear our lack of relationship may hinder the investigation. Sara is much more accepting of me. She is a good detective, but her history with Lieutenant Anderson and his personal issues are also a worry of mine regarding my mission.”

Amanda purses her lips, “Don’t mind them, Conner. If they help you then that is wonderful, but do not let them hinder you. Your mission is what is most important.”

Conner nods, “Of course, Amanda.” He then hesitates, “…May I ask you a question?”

She nods and waits patiently for his question.

“What do you know about Detective Knight?”

She seems surprised, “Why do you ask?”

“I found very little information on her. I am curious as to why that is.”

Amanda doesn’t answer straight away. She seems to be thinking of what she should say which makes Conner all the more curious. What could be so important about Sara for everyone to be so guarded?

“Sara Knight joined the DPD three years ago. She was a high-ranking detective of the NYPD before that,” Amanda informs him. 

“Why was this not in the official records?” Conner questions, “She seems quite young to be in her position with the DPD. What was-“ 

Amanda is looking more and more fed up with his questions, “She was born January 20th, 2006. She has one sister, grew up in New York, and started out in the police department straight out of high school. Is that enough information?” She asks with a bit of sass. 

Conner frowns slightly but nods, “Yes, thank you.” 

~

“Conner, what the hell are you doing?”

The android opens his eyes and finds himself in a stationary elevator. Hank and Sara are waiting outside it, looking at him curiously.

“I was sending a message to CyberLife,” Conner answers.

Sara crosses her arms, “Well, come on then. I want to get home and take a nap as soon as we finish checking out this apartment.”

Conner nods and exits the elevator before follows them down the hall.

“So what’s the deal with this one?” Hank asks as they walk.

Conner gazes around the dirty hallway as he answers, “Residents here have suspected a deviant hiding amongst them.”

“Well, let’s hope it is still here,” Hank grumbles as they reach the apartment.

Sara gives Conner a nod and he knocks on the door. There is no answer so he pounds on it and shouts, “Detroit police! Open up!”

A loud crash is heard from within the room and immediately Hank pulls his gun out. Sara draws hers as well and tells Conner to get behind them.

Hank kicks open the door and rushes in first with Sara and Conner following close behind.

“What the fuck is this?!“ Hank shouts as he opens another door and a bunch of pigeons flies out.

The room looks barely livable. Dirt and bird shit cover the place with dozens of more pigeons flying around. Conner scans the room and immediately begins looking for clues while Hank continues to curse the birds.

“What’s with these fucking things?!”

Sara spies a box of bird feed, “Looks like it has been feeding them.”

Hank growls as he steps over a pile of white bird poop, “Couldn’t you have warned me about these things?”

Sara smirks as she looks around the room, “I was preoccupied.”

He puts his hands on his hips, “Well, can you sense anything here? Would make our job a lot easier.”

Sara glances around for Conner and finds him walking into a bathroom at the other end of the room. She walks closer to Hank and crosses her arms, “It’s harder to sense androids because they have no scent and they tend to be a lot more light-footed than humans,” she mutters to him.

“So you’re useless here,” Hank deadpans. 

Sara narrows her eyes and smacks his arm, “I’m more useful than you when it comes to chasing after them.”

Hank rolls his eyes, “I’m sorry that I age,” he says sarcastically. 

“It’s not just age,” Sara grumbles as she walks to a poster on one of the walls. It seems odd that it is one of the few intact things here. Reaching out, she rips the poster from the wall to reveal a hole hidden behind it. “Shawshank much,” She mumbles as she reaches into the hole and picks up a book. It’s a diary of some kind. Encrypted. 

“You know,” Hank begins, “You don’t have to be so secretive when it's just the three of us. I doubt Conner will say anything.”

“It’s not him I worry about,” she tells him, “I’m sure his memories are checked periodically. Who knows how many people would have access to that information!” She huffs. 

He raises his hands in surrender, “I wasn’t thinking. Sorry.”

She rolls her eyes and turns away from him to look at a bookcase, “It’s a wonder you’ve kept my secret this long.”

Conner exits the bathroom a moment later and walks over to them. He gazes up and studies a large hole in the ceiling. 

Out of nowhere, the deviant comes barreling down out of the hole and lands on Conner. They hit the floor hard and Sara spins around in shock. The deviant scrambles to its feet and rushes out of the apartment with Sara already on its heels.

“Go after it!” Hank shouts at Conner.

The android gets to his feet and rushes after them. He spots Sara up ahead just about a foot behind the deviant but just as she is about to tackle it the deviant serves down a hall and rushes out of the building through a door.

Sara curses as she chases after the deviant. It's a slippery bugger, swerving through crowds and leading her into different buildings in hopes of losing her. 

She grits her teeth as she speeds through a cornfield after the deviant. As she breaks through the field she spies the deviant climbing up a wall and up onto the roof of a building. With no witnesses around she lets herself quicken her pace and she is soon on the roof and tackling the deviant to the ground in seconds. 

“What the-“ The deviant grunts as he tries to get out of her hold. He manages to flip onto his back and sends a punch at the detective’s face.

Sara reels back with a hiss of pain and that is all the time needed for the android to kick her in the stomach which sends her flying back into a wall. She hits her head hard on the brick wall behind her and slumps to the ground in pain. 

Squeezing her eyes shut, she tries to stop her head from spinning before she begins to pull herself to her knees. As she opens her eyes, she spies the deviant sending Hank over the roof ledge. Her eyes widen in horror, “HANK!”

Conner rushes past them without a second glance and follows after the deviant. 

Scrambling to her feet, Sara runs over and helps Hank to safety. 

Breathing heavily, Hank leans on the girl, “Thanks.”

With a relieved sigh, Sara pulls him into a hug, “No problem. Don’t make a habit of this though.” Releasing him, they then walk to where Conner and the deviant went. 

Conner has trapped the deviant near the end of the roof with no way of escape. He feels a mild gratification for capturing this deviant, but it doesn’t last long.

“What the hell was that about?!” Hank shouts at Conner as he charges over to him. “I almost died! Sara was bleeding on the ground! Why didn’t you do something?!”

Sara walks to the deviant and begins to handcuff him. She sends Conner an irritated look. She’s not happy about him leaving Hank to fall to his death either.

Conner frowns at the two of them, “I calculated your percentage of survival to be-“

Hank stops him with a hard punch to the face, but the android is unfazed by it. “Is that all I am to you?! A fucking statistic, you bastard!” Hank shouts angrily, looking like he wants to punch him again.

“Hank!” Sara shouts, “That’s enough.” She pushes the deviant to walk forward, “We can talk about this later. Let’s just get this guy back to-“

“Save me, rA9,” the deviant mutters before spinning out of Sara’s grip and diving off the roof. His body falls a considerable height and makes a thud upon impact. 

“Shit!” Sara kicks the ground as she looks down at the mess of blue.

“Fuckin’ androids,” Hank shakes his head and storms off, leaving Conner to stand silently next to Sara. 

The android looks at the woman and notices some blood in her hair. “You’re bleeding, “ He tells her.

She narrows her eyes at him, “Oh, ‘now’ you notice?”

Conner grimaces, “I was preoccupied with my mission. I couldn’t let the deviant get away.”

“Well, look at how that turned out,” Sara sneers as she passes by him.

“I could help clean it for you, “Conner offers, not wanting this to get between their budding relationship as partners. 

Sara waves her hand dismissively, “It’ll heal soon. See you tomorrow.”

Conner frowns as he is left alone. For some reason, he feels... bad. Maybe he should have helped them instead of following his mission.


	3. Conflicting thoughts

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the wait. The holidays have taken up a lot of my time, but I am going to force myself to start posting more :) Happy new year everyone!

Chapter 3:

It’s a new day and another deviant case has come in. Conner is currently on his way to Lieutenant Anderson’s house. He could not find the Lieutenant at Jimmy’s bar so he decided to look for him at his home. He thought about finding Detective Knight but he realized that he did not know where she lived.

Amanda seemed to know about her, but the question of why her information is hidden still arouses suspicion. Conner knows he needs to prioritize his mission first, but he is determined to find out what she is hiding. Ever since he started working with the DPD she has been an enigma. Regarded highly amongst her peers, yet aloof with a past no one seems to really know. She is indifferent toward androids, neither hateful like Lieutenant Anderson nor fully accepting. Conner thinks this is because of her unwillingness to let anyone close to her, but he enjoys her company nonetheless. She is one of the few humans to be civil toward him and he appreciates it. 

~

Exiting the self-driving car, Conner finds himself in front of Hank’s modest little home. The sun has just set and it is starting to get noticeably colder in Detroit. Winter is approaching and with it an ominous feeling. 

Walking down the pathway to the front door, Conner knocks and waits. No one answers so he buzzes the doorbell and knocks again, “Lieutenant Anderson?” He calls.

Stepping back with a frown, Conner decides to check the window. He peers in but cannot see much. The tv is on, so someone must be home. Conner walks around the side of the house for another access point. He reaches another window which looks into the kitchen.

“Lieutenant!” Conner shouts when he sees Hank past out on the floor of the kitchen. 

Thinking quickly, the android smashes the glass with his elbow and then dives through the window. 

Falling rather ungracefully into the house, he looks up and finds himself face to face with a huge St Bernard. 

Reeling back, Conner raises his hand and watches the dog nervously, “G-Good dog… Sumo? I’m here to save your owner.”

The dog watches him with lazy eyes before turning and trotting away. Conner watches him go with mild interest before getting to his feet. He makes his way over to Hank and sees an empty beer bottle on the ground next to him, as well as a gun. He finds no sign of a heart attack or any other ailment, other than an alcohol-induced coma.

Kneeling next to his partner with a sigh, Conner pats his face gently, “Lieutenant?” 

Hank mumbles something unintelligible but doesn’t wake. Conner cocks his head to the side thinking. “Wake up, Lieutenant,” he then smacks Hank hard in the face.

“Wah!” Hank wakes with a start, “-What? Who-“

Conner starts to pull him up to his feet, “Come on, Lieutenant,” he urges the man as he begins to half drag him toward the bathroom.

“Ughhh get away,” Hank groans in a drunken stupor, “Sumo! Attack!”

Sumo barks at the two but does not make a move to stand up from his bed.

“Good dog,” Hank praises.

Conner smirks in amusement and pulls Hank into the bathroom where he sets him down in the bathtub.

“What are you doing?” Hank questions in a whiney voice as he looks up at Conner with unfocused eyes, “I don’t want a bath.”

Conner raises an eyebrow before turning on the shower.

“AHHH TURN IT OFF!” Hank roars as cold water drenches him.

Conner grants his wish and then waits for his partner to settle down. 

Hank blinks the water from his eyes and looks up at Conner in confusion, “What the fuck are you doing here?”

“A case came in,” Conner reports, glad that he was able to sober the man up.

Hank groans as he tries to stand up, “Is that all? Why don’t you go find Sara-“

Conner quickly reaches out to steady him as he almost falls. He sits Hank back down on the edge of the tub and takes a step back, “I had no way of finding Detective Knight and she was not answering my calls.”

Hank shakes his head as he tries to not vomit, “Go yourself then. I’m not going anywhere.”

Conner frowns and then decides to take a different approach, “Fine,” he turns to leave, “I will go search for Detective Knight once more. I’m sure she will be interested to hear about how I found you tonight. Past out on the floor with a gun by your side. ”

Hank stills and looks up sharply, “…Are you blackmailing me?”

Conner turns around and looks at his partner with an innocent look on his face, “I would call it more of an… incentive.”

Hank narrows his eyes at the cheeky android before sighing, “What’s the case?”

Conner holds back a triumphant smile, “A man was killed at a local sex club. It’s likely an android was responsible.”

Hank rubs his forehead with an exasperated look on his face, “…Alright,” he relents, “I will go, but you can’t tell Sara about this,” he gestures to himself.

Conner nods, “I understand. Should I contact Detective Knight to accompany us?”

“She’d be mad if we didn’t,” Hank grumbles as he runs his hand through his wet hair, “Her personal number should be on the fridge. She always answers that one.” His face suddenly goes a little green and he dives for the toilet. Trying to hold back the churning in his stomach he closes his eyes and leans his elbows on the toilet seat with a groan, “…Ugh, go find some clothes for me. I-I’ll just be a moment-“ a rush of vomit cuts him off mid-sentence and he buries his head in the toilet bowl.

Conner makes a face at the disgusting sounds and decides to exit the room. He shuts the door behind him to give Hank some privacy before walking to the room across the hall. After searching Hank’s closet, he eventually picks out a rather loud, striped shirt and a basic pair of black pants. He quickly slips into the bathroom and sets the clothing on the sink countertop before quickly exiting the putrid-smelling room. Adjusting his tie, he composes himself and walks to the kitchen to get Detective Knight’s number. 

Sumo is resting in his dog bed on the kitchen floor when Conner enters the room. The android pauses and studies the dog for a moment before kneeling down and gently petting the large animal’s head. Sumo seems to like it and gives Conner a lick before he lays his head down once more and falls asleep. Conner smiles a little and stands. He spies the fridge and strides toward it.

A red sticky note stands out on the white surface. Written on it in Sara’s own handwriting is ‘You can always reach me at this number. No time is a bad time. -Sara’. 

Conner can tell that this note has been touched often. It’s placement also shows that it is meant to be seen at all times, even though it is more than likely that Hank has this number saved in his phone, or even memorized. 

Their relationship interests the android. They seem so close at times, with an obvious history between them, and yet they also seem very distant too. Hank is quick to snap at her when she seems to be taking Conner’s side in things. This confuses Conner because she seems to be the closest person to Hank. Why would he push her away?

Conner forces himself to stop overanalyzing his partners and looks around the kitchen some more as he calls the number. He spots a frame placed facedown on the kitchen table. Picking it up, he scans the face of the child and finds him to be Hank’s late son. His name was Cole.

‘Hello?’ Sara answers.

Conner places the frame back where it was, “Hello, Detective Knight. This is Conner. I couldn’t seem to get ahold of you from your work number, so Hank gave me this one.”

There is a pause, ‘…Yeah, sorry. I was busy. What’s up?’

Conner eyes Hank’s gun which still lies on the floor, “A case just came in. I alerted Lieutenant Anderson of it. We should be on our way to the crime scene shortly.”

‘Alright. Just send me the location and I will meet you there,’ she tells him, ‘What was Hank up to?’ she inquires, ‘Not in another bar I hope.’

Conner gulps as he continues to stare at the weapon, “…No. I found him at home.”

She sighs in relief, ‘Well, that’s good. Okay, I will see you at the crime scene then.’

“Yes. I will send the location now.”

‘Thanks.’

The call ends and Conner can’t help but feel a bit bad for lying to her. Hank’s suicidal tendencies are worrying, but Hank would also be mad at him if he told Sara. Keeping quiet would be the best option to get on Hank’s good side, Conner decides.

Hank then walks into the room, “Okay, let’s get this over with,” he sighs, “Did you contact Sara?”

Conner nods as he looks over his partner’s outfit, “She will be meeting us there.”

“Good. Let’s go.”

The drive is fairly short and they are soon parking outside of the location. Hank gets out and raises an eyebrow at the neon sign outside the place. It says, ‘The Eden Club’.

“A sex android club? Could have told me about that, Conner,” Hank grumbles.

“Yeah, Conner,” Sara agrees from the entrance doorway. She has her arms crossed as she looks at her partners.

Conner frowns at the two of them, “I don’t see the problem with me not telling you.”

Hank rolls his eyes and moves forward to join Sara. “How’s it look?” he questions her as they walk inside with Conner following after them.

“Two bodies. A man and a female android,” she answers as they walk through the colorful hall with androids in glass tubes lining the walls. “Oh, and watch out. Reed is here as well.”

Hank curses, “Why is he here?”

“They weren’t sure it was a deviant case at first. Reed is still adamant that it wasn’t, but I will let you be the judge of that.”

They enter a private room and immediately Hank regrets his choice of leaving his house.

“Oh, look the town drunk finally arrived,” Gavin sneers.

Hank is really not in the mood for Reed’s shit today so he clamps his mouth shut and lets Sara do the talking.

“Fuck off, Reed,” Sara snaps, “My team’s here now, so give us some room to actually solve the case,” Sara waves her hand in a shooing motion which earns her a death glare from Gavin.

The two officers with Gavin quickly pack up and make their way out of the room, but Gavin lingers a moment. He looks down at the dead man laying on the bed, undressed but covered with a sheet, and smirks, “Not much to solve. Buddy got a little too much then he could handle.” He strolls to the door and purposely bumps Hank’s shoulder on the way out.

Hank grits his teeth and tries to hold it together while Sara glares daggers at the man exiting the room. Once he is finally gone, the three of them relax a bit before getting down to business.

Conner immediately kneels next to the man and analyzes his body. There are bruise marks on the man’s neck, but he is otherwise uninjured. Conner makes note of that before moving over to the android. 

“Can it be fixed?” Sara questions from above him. 

Conner shakes his head as he looks over the scantily dressed android. It’s a Tracie, a common sex android model. “No. It was critically injured. ...But I may be able to activate it momentarily to question it.”

Hank walks over to them, “Alright. Go ahead.”

Conner opens the panel on its stomach and reaches into the cavity to connect two wires. The android wakes with a gasp and quickly scoots away from them. It looks around with a terrified expression. 

“W-what’s happening?!” The Tracie cries out as it presses its back against the wall, “Where-“

Conner slowly moves closer to it and asks in a calm but stern voice, “What happened here? Did you kill this man?”

It looks over at the dead human and shakes its head, “N-No. He started hitting us.”

“Us?” Sara questions and steps closer, “There was someone else in here?”

The Tracie nods, “H-He wanted to play with two girls. He said…” its face suddenly freezes and it shuts down right in front of them.

Sara steps back with a frustrated sigh, “Damn. But at least we know that there was another android here.”

“Well, how are we supposed to find it?” Hank questions with a frown, “So many of these androids look the same.”

Conner stands and strides toward the door, “I have an idea.”

Sara watches him go with furrowed brows,”…Alright. I am going to question the owner,” she tells Hank, “Go help Conner-“

“Why do I have to help it?” Hank whines.

Sara rolls her eyes and exits the room with Hank following behind, “Because-“

“Lieutenant,” Conner calls from across the main floor of the club, “Can you come take a look at this?”

Sara sends Hank a smirk, “Have fun.”

Hanks glares at her before walking to Conner. Sara smiles at the grumpy man and then walks off to find the owner of the club. She quickly spots him talking with another police officer at the entrance desk. 

“Can I ask you a few questions, sir?” She cuts in.

The officer gives her a polite nod before leaving them alone. Sara studies the owner with sharp eyes. Presumably in his late 30s, slicked back hair, overweight, smells of alcohol and a shit ton of cologne. He somehow managed to fit all the stereotypes Sara had ever thought of when imagining the owner of a sex club.

He smiles slyly and looks her up and down, “How are you today, officer?”

Sara looks at him unimpressed, “Detective, actually. May I see your identification and business license?”

He gulps and nods, “Of course.” He quickly searches the desk for the papers to give to the intimidating woman. “T-This won’t hurt my business, will it?” he asks as he hands her the papers and his ID. “I mean, it was an accident, right?”

“We will let you know,” She answers vaguely as she checks over the papers. She hands them back with a smile, “Thank you for your cooperation, Mr. Rogers.”

He frowns, “That didn’t answer my-“

“Detective! I found something,” Conner calls from the blue room.

Sara sends the owner another smile before jogging to the blue-lit area. She finds Conner and Hank standing just outside a ‘staff only’ door.

“We are looking for a blue-haired Tracie,” Conner informs her, “It went through this door.”

Sara frowns, “How do you know this?”

Hank sighs and shakes his head, “Don’t ask.”

Sara is confused but shrugs it off, “Let’s find it then.”

Hank leads the way through the door with his gun at the ready. Sara and Conner follow him down a short hallway and into a back room that opens up into some kind of holding area/loading dock. The bay door is open, letting in the frigid air. Hank curses and lowers his gun but Sara places her hand on his shoulder, “It still might be here,” she tells him, “Let’s look around.”

Conner walks past a table with different types of tools and other things. To his right are about a dozen androids standing together in neat rows. They seem to be in standby mode, waiting to be repaired most likely. But as he walks closer to them he notices one has blue hair.

“Lieutenant, Detective! I-“ Conner begins to shout but he is suddenly cut off by a brown-haired Tracie tackling him to the ground.

“Shit!” Hank curse and runs over to help, only to be thrown back into a shelf by the blue-haired Tracie. 

Conner finds himself battling the two deviants, while Sara charges over to help. Sara leaps over a table and plants herself in front of Conner just as the blue-haired Tracie slashes a screwdriver at him. Sara grits her teeth as her cheek takes the brunt of the attack. Blood streaks down her face as a large gash opens up.

“Ow!” Sara growls and narrows her eyes at the two deviants who have paused their next attack. They are unsure of how this human is still standing like nothing happened. “That fucking hurt, you high-heeled bitch,” Sara hisses and sends the blue-haired Tracie flying with a solid kick to the stomach. She blocks a kick from the other deviant and gives a punch in response. That stuns the deviant momentarily so Sara spins it around and handcuffs its arms behind itself before kicking it to the ground near the other deviant.

The two Tracies huddle together on the floor and scoot back until they hit a chain-link fence. Sara and Conner stand a few feet from them and Hank slowly makes his way over, rubbing his back with a wince.

“You ok?” Sara asks her friend.

Hank shrugs, “Fine. Glad you caught them.”

“When that man killed that Tracie…” They look over and see the blue-haired Tracie staring at them. “I knew I was next,” it tells them. “So I put my hands around his throat and I squeezed until he stopped moving. I didn’t want to die. I wanted to live, to live and be reunited with the one I love most,” it puts its arm around the handcuffed Tracie and hugs it tightly.

Sara frowns as she watches the two androids. They …actually seem to be in love. She can tell by the way they look into each other’s eyes.

“I wanted to forget about the humans,” the Tracie stands and clenches its jaw as it relives the memories, “The smell of their sweat. Their dirty words,” it looks down at the other Tracie, “I love her. Is that so wrong?”

Sara and Hank are at a loss for words and Conner looks unsure what to do. His orders are being conflicted right now by what he is seeing.

The brown-haired Tracie stands. It seems that it got out of its cuffs somehow. It tugs on the blue-haired Tracie’s arm and murmurs, “Let’s go.”

The two Tracies turn around and begin to climb the fence to freedom. Sara and Hank just watch, not even bothering to try and stop them. It would feel wrong to at this point.

Suddenly, two gunshots ring out. Sara flinches and looks to her right and sees Conner with her gun in his hands. His LED is yellow and he has an odd look on his face.

“Fucking hell, Conner,” Hank whispers in shock. He shakes his head in disappointment and backs away, “Congrats, I guess. You got em’,” he says devoid of emotion before turning and walking back into the club.

Sara rips her gun from Conner’s hand and glares at him, “What the fuck was that?!”

Conner gulps and tears his eyes away from the two androids bleeding out onto the concrete, “…I couldn’t let them get away.”

Sara holds herself back from shouting at him again. He’s right. They are supposed to be stopping deviants, not letting them get away… no matter how compelling their story is. Holstering her gun, Sara sighs, “Let’s go.”

Conner follows after her with a frown. He did what he was programmed to do… but why did it feel so wrong?”


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4:

The car ride is deathly quiet. It’s late, but Hank doesn’t feel like going home yet so he drives to a place he has become all too familiar with. 

Sara feels a lump growing in her throat once she realizes where he is headed. Hank has grown a habit of going to this place on his bad days. Sara often follows with or without his knowledge, just to make sure that he is okay. She hates to see him sad, but there is only so much she can do when he is constantly pushing her away. So she gives him space when he wants it but she is never far in case he needs her.

The car stops near a small children’s park by the river. Hank gets out into the cold air and retrieves a pack of beer from the trunk of his car before walking to sit on a bench that overlooks the water. Sara turns down the loud music Hank insists on listening to every time he drives and waits silently for Hank to cool off.

Conner sits in the backseat with a frown, “Does he do this often?”

“More than I would like.”

Conner lets that sink in for a moment before he opens his door and exits the car. He never was good at sitting still for very long. 

Sara curses as she watches him walk over to their grumpy partner before exiting the car herself. She just knows that Conner is going to piss Hank off even more than he already is somehow. She walks through the falling snow and decides to hang back by the light pole just behind the bench Hank is sitting at.

Conner stands next to the bench and studies Hank silently, “It’s late. Maybe you should go home.”

“I’m not tired,” Hank mutters as he takes a swig from his beer bottle.

Sara watches Hank with sad eyes as she leans her back against the light pole. She hates to see him like this. That lost look on his face… It has been there since Cole died. 

Conner walks to the railing by the water and looks out with a pensive expression, “You seem preoccupied, Lieutenant. Is it something to do with what happened back at the Eden club?”

“Those two girls just wanted to be together,” Hank says softly, “…They really seemed in love.”

Conner turns around to face him. He wears an expressionless mask as he states coldly, “They are machines. They are incapable of love. They don’t ‘feel’ anything.”

Sara swallows the lump in her throat and looks away. It is becoming harder for her to think like that after seeing all of these deviants. She has always been open to the idea of androids gaining some kind of higher intelligence or even a soul of some kind. Part of her wishes Conner would feel the same way. It’s… hard to see him act like this. So cold, more so than usual, like he is trying his hardest to believe what he says himself.

Hank doesn’t seem to like that answer either. He takes another swig of his drink before setting it down and getting up to saunter over to the android. He isn’t drunk, but Sara can tell that he is less than sober. “And what about you, Conner?” Hank questions, “What are you really?” 

“I am a machine tasked with a mission,“ Conner answers cooly.

Sara feels the hairs on her arm stand on end as Hank gets closer to Conner.

“Did you feel anything when you killed that girl?” Hank questions with a growl as he shoves Conner back a step.

“Hey!” Sara shouts a warning and takes a few steps towards them, “Cool it, Hank.”

Hank ignores her and continues to glare at the android, “Or did you just not give a shit?”

“Of course I didn’t feel anything,” Conner denies, but his LED gives away his uncertainty by turning yellow. He straightens his back and states firmly, “I am a machine and it is my mission to take down deviants.”

Hank studies him for a moment before pulling his gun out and aiming it at Conner’s head. “I could kill you,” He threatens, “Are you afraid to die, Conner?” 

“Hank, that is enough!” Sara growls and walks toward them.

Conner narrows his eyes at the Lieutenant and answers, “I’m not alive.” 

Hank grits his teeth and his arm quivers before lowering a few inches. Sara pauses mid-step before her eyes widen and she moves between the two of them with supernatural speed. Pushing Hank’s gun to the sky just milliseconds before he fires at Conner’s head, the bullet cuts through the air and echoes loudly through the area for miles.

The android stumbles back, wide eyes filled with disbelief that Hank had really just tried to shoot him. Conner knew he was pushing him but he never expected him to actually shoot.

Sara rips the gun from Hank’s grasp and shoves him back a few steps, “What the fuck, Hank?!” She shouts at him angrily.

He glares at her, “Protecting it again? Why are you always taking its side? It is a fucking machine!” he roars.

Sara narrows her eyes, “I’m not taking his side-“

“Why are you even still here?” Hank questions as he looks over her youthful features, “Why waste any more time here?”

Sara immediately knows that he isn’t talking about this moment anymore. She glances to Conner and finds him a few feet away, still looking a bit shellshocked. Returning her gaze to Hank, she sighs, “I don’t want to do this here-“

“For ten years…” Hank growls lowly, “Why bother to even to come back?”

Sara clenches her jaw and lowers her head, “I told you I was sorry-“

“Sorry doesn’t make all right!” Hank snaps with sudden ferocity, “I loved you and you still left!”

Conner’s gaze snaps to Hank, quickly forgetting the intense moment that happened only minutes ago. 

Hank was in an intimate relationship with Sara?

“It wouldn’t have worked!” Sara shouts back and points her finger at him, “You knew that from the beginning!” 

Hank shakes his head in denial, “We could have been together if you would have just turned me-“

“I gave you a chance to live a normal life!”

“And look at what happened!” Hank roars, “I LOST EVERYONE I EVER LOVED!” 

Sara glares at him with tears in her eyes, “At least you had the chance,” she says softly, “You had six years with your son. I will ‘never’ have that,” She closes her eyes and a tear streaks down her face, “I’m sorry that happened to you. I had hoped with all my being that you would live on and find someone you loved, have a happy family and die of old age,” she gazes at him with sorrow filled eyes, “…But that just wasn’t how things turned out.”

Hank’s shoulders have started to sag. He is tired, in more ways than one. “….Why stay after all these years?” he asks again, but in a softer tone. 

Sara takes a small step toward him, “I worry about you, Hank. I couldn’t just leave you-“

“I don’t want your pity!” he snaps, “If you don’t want to be here, then leave!”

Sara stands firm and shakes her head, “No. I realized that I was wrong to abandon you all those years ago, and I refuse to do it again. You are my friend. Nothing is holding me here other than my own will.”

Hank gazes at her and his expression softens. He takes a stumbling step back and looks away, “…I’m going home.”

“I’m driving,” Sara says with no room for him to argue.

He just grunts and tosses her his keys before stumbling to his car.

Conner blinks at the retreating man’s back before turning to Sara with a confused expression. She just sighs and shakes her head, “I will explain later. Come on.”

Conner frowns at her answer but follows her to the car nonetheless. Hank is laying down in the back so Conner gets into the passenger seat. He leans back in his seat as Sara starts the car and turns to look out the window while trying to hold all of his questions until later. 

Sara’s mysterious past just became all the more mysterious.


	5. Secret comes out

Chapter 5:

 

There is no record of Detective Knight until around three years ago when she first entered the DPD. If she had indeed known Hank ten years before, then she would have been quite young. Conner knows that relationships between men and women with large age gaps are often frowned upon. 

‘Was their relationship secret?’ Conner wonders.

The android sighs quietly in frustration. No, there is something else going on. He has seen firsthand, Detective Knight doing things that no human could possibly do. She managed to keep up with him, an android with unlimited stamina, on multiple occasions when chasing after deviants. Her fight against the Tracies was also remarkable. Hank was easily outmatched by them, but Sara-

Conner’s eyes widen as he remembers the large gash she received on her right cheek. He quickly looks in Sara’s direction and sees nothing but smooth skin. He goes to question her but she pulls the car to a stop and turns it off. Conner looks out the window and realizes that they are already at Hank’s home.

Sara steps out into the cold air and walks to the backseat. Opening the car door, she finds Hank asleep on the cold, leather seats. With a sigh, she pats his shoulder, “Come on, Hank. You’re home.”

Cracking his eyes open, he glares up at her for disturbing his sleep before sitting up with a groan. Sara helps him out of the car and up to the front door of his house. Conner watches them from the car like a hawk. He notices how she doesn’t waver when Hank puts basically all his weight on her.

‘How strong is she?’ Conner muses.

The two of them disappear inside of the house for a few minutes. Sara is alone when she exits the house. After locking the front door, she walks to the car and opens Conner’s door.

“Come on,” she tells him, “I don’t live far.”

Conner nods and exits the vehicle. He follows her down the sidewalk until they reach a house only a couple of streets away from Hank’s. The house is small like Hank’s but it is better kept and looks newer.

“I hope you don’t mind cats,” Sara mutters as she unlocks the front door.

Conner cocks his head to the side in thought, “I don’t know, I never met a cat before. I know that I like dogs.”

She cracks a smile as she lets him inside, “I know you do.”

Conner is met with a loud hiss as soon as he enters the home. He pauses mid-step and looks down at the black ball of fur in front of him. Piercing yellow eyes burn into Conner’s, giving him an unsettling feeling.

“Enough of that, Lucifer,” Sara chides as she shuts the door behind her, “Conner is a friend.”

Conner blinks in surprise and turns to her, “You named your cat after the commonly known byword for the devil?”

Sara chuckles and bends down to pet the black feline, “I did,” her smile turns somber, “Humans call many things the devil, many of which who could not be further from it.” She stands and gestures to the living room, “Let’s sit. We have much to discuss I’m sure.”

Conner nods and walks to the small sitting area. Similar to Hank’s house, there is a tv and couch, but there is a definite lacking of personal items in this house. He did not expect this, and he feels a slight annoyance that he cannot gain any more information about her.

Sara takes a seat on the couch and pats the cushion next to her. Conner walks over to take a seat, but he is stopped by another loud hiss. Lucifer jumps onto the couch and glares at the android with his hackles raised.

Conner watches the creature with a frown, “I don’t think he likes me.”

Sara picks up her cat and moves him onto her lap so Conner can sit, “He is just protective,” she explains, “Now that I think about it, I don’t think he has ever met an android before. That might be the reason.”

Conner nods and sits down with perfect posture. “It is common for animals to be wary of us.”

A tense silence falls between them. Sara is biting her lip nervously while Conner remains patiently quiet. They both know that the truth has to come out, there can be no more hiding. 

“…I guess I should start from when I met Hank,” Sara begins nervously.

Conner gives an encouraging smile and waits anxiously for her story.

Sara looks down at Lucifer, “It all started with this little guy actually. He was fighting against a dog in an alley one night and they ended up rolling into the street. A car was headed right toward them, so I did something stupid,” she grimaces as she pets Lucifer’s head, “I dove in front of the car and luckily was able to save him, the dog wasn’t so lucky though...”

Conner furrows his brow, “You jumped in front of a car?”

Sara nods with a soft chuckle, “In my defense, I thought I could make it. But apparently, I overestimated how fast I was. Anyway, guess who was driving said car?”

“Hank…,” Conner murmurs.

“Hank was on his way home after work. It was late and he was the only one on the road. Poor guy was scared out of his mind that he might have just killed someone,” she retells with a soft smile.

“How didn’t he?” Conner questions, “An impact like that would have been fatal in most cases and in others, you would have been severely injured with long-term damage.”

Sara glances at him before looking away, “It took a lot of convincing for Hank to accept that too,” she evades, “He wanted to call the police, ambulance, the whole nine yards. I was still injured enough that I couldn’t just slip away, but he eventually gave in to my pleas to not alert anyone and took me back to his place to patch me up. I think he thought I was on the run from something or someone,” she begins to ramble off into another tangent. 

“Detective Knight,” Conner interrupts with an eyebrow raised. 

Sara sighs, “Sorry. I was stalling,” she takes a deep breath, “It’s not often that I share this secret. My kind has been hunted for centuries and we have only survived by hiding our true selves and blending in.”

Conner leans forward with interest, “Your kind? You aren’t human?”

She shakes her head, “We look human, we were actually human once, but now we are seen as monsters," she looks down, "…They aren’t wrong. We are monsters. We thirst for blood and we are forced to live in darkness,” she clenches her jaw, “But we don’t have to act like monsters. Many of us, myself included, do all we can to push down our monstrous instincts.”

The android furrows his brows as he thinks over what she just said. Quickly scanning the internet for such a monster, “You are a… vampire?”

She watches Conner with cautious eyes, “You can’t tell anyone about this. Do you understand, Conner?”

He nods, “Of course. Is Hank the only other to know of this?”

“In the United States, yeah.”

“There are many portrayals of vampires in literature and film. How much at those are true to your kind?” Conner inquires, completely unfazed by this new information. 

Sara is a little shocked by how well he is taking this. Hank was much harder to convince. “You believe me?”

He shrugs, “Why shouldn’t I? Androids have been seen as things of fiction for centuries but here I am.”

“Good point,” Sara strokes Lucifer who has finally calmed down and fallen asleep. “It is true that we drink blood but we also need regular food to survive. Our skin is very sensitive to sunlight, which isn’t a problem here luckily because of this constant rainy weather,” she explains, “We are also much stronger and faster than any human.”

Conner nods, “I noticed a few times of your supernatural abilities, but nothing substantial enough to come to a clear conclusion.”

Sara grimaces, “It’s hard not to slip up sometimes. Especially when Hank is involved.”

Conner studies her soft expression when she mentions him. “You loved him too, didn’t you?”

Gulping, she nods, “At one time, yes. I still care strongly about him, but not in the same way as I once did. …I don’t think our close relationship will ever recover.”

Conner’s eyes soften, “You shouldn’t feel responsible for the Lieutenant’s personal issues.”

“I can’t help it. I just left him for ten years and then I find out his son has died. I should have been there for him.”

“You’re here now,” Conner reminds her.

That brings a small smile to her lips, “Thanks, Conner. I’m glad you’re here too. I know Hank hasn’t been the most welcoming, but I do enjoy your company and help on cases.”

Conner returns the smile, “I enjoy your company as well, Detective.”

“Call me Sara,” she urges, “We are partners. Equals.”

“…Equals?” Conner whispers.

“We aren’t so different you know.”

He tilts his head to the side, “How so?”

“Well... we are both inhuman. Our physiologies are different than theirs. You run on blue blood,” she cracks a smile, “And I suppose I run on blood as well. We both live far longer than humans, and we are harder to hurt or kill,” her looks turns somber, “...And I know what it’s like to be scorned and hated, so much so that my species had to go completely under the radar in order to survive.”

Conner smiles softly, “You worry too much for my kind. We are just machines. We are given specifics tasks and we are replaceable.”

Sara frowns at his answer. She looks down at his jacket, “Do you know what this number means, Conner?” she questions, pointing to the last two digits of his serial number on his jacket.

Conner looks down at the numbers, “Yes. Those are the number of… editions I am.”

Sara crosses her arms, “So you are the 51st Conner model. Do you remember anything from those other editions?”

Conner gulps, still staring at the number on his jacket, “Only what they wanted me to remember. Much of those memories were erased when they deemed me ready for deployment.”

“There have been ‘fifty’ androids that wore your same face, Conner. But they were not ‘you’,” she stresses the last word and reaches her hands up to his face. She raises his head to look at her, “This is you. They may replace you, it may have your face and some previous memories, but this is the only ‘you’. They would have control over what you know and what you are to forget. That is why you need to protect this body. ‘You’ cannot be replaced, no matter how much you think you can be.”

Conner is at a loss for words, and as he stares into her eyes he realizes how beautiful they are. Like sapphire gems.

Before he can stop himself, he is lifting his own hand to caress her face. So smooth and warm under his touch sensors. How can she claim to be a monster when her looks are so angelic?

A feral growl makes them jump apart. Lucifer stands on Sara’s lap like a ferocious lion protecting its cubs.

Conner frowns at the cat, “How did your story end with you taking care of the feline?”

“Oh,” she looks down at her cat with her cheeks slightly flushed, “I think he was thankful that I saved him, and he just stuck around since then.”

Conner studies the cat, “You obtained him over ten years ago? He doesn’t look very old.”

Sara smirks secretively, “Vampires are not the only supernatural creatures out there.”

While Conner ponders that, Sara moves Lucifer off her lap and stands up to stretch. “Well, vampires still need sleep, so I am off to bed,” she states with a yawn, “You are welcome to stay here instead of going to wherever you go off duty.”

“I usually stay at CyberLife or the police station,” Connor answers after a moment of thinking, “But I suppose I could stay here. I can go into a standby mode which is similar to sleeping. It helps recalibrate my system.”

“Alright, see you in the morning then,” Sara gives him a smile before leaving the room with Lucifer following after her.

Conner watches them go before turning to face the off television. He pulls his quarter from his pocket and begins to flick it back and forth between his hands while he goes over everything they talked about.

Conner is glad that this mystery has finally been solved, and he feels closer to Sara now. He also understands Hank a bit more, why he is often standoffish toward Sara. The two of them have a complicated past but it seems like Sara still cares a lot for the man, even if he doesn’t see it. 

Conner wonders if he should tell her about the night he found Hank unconscious with a gun next to him. He made Hank a promise that he wouldn’t tell her… but a nagging feeling in the back of his mind is starting to annoy him. It always shows itself when Sara is there. Conner fears that it will continue to distract him from his mission. Maybe he can convince Hank to tell her himself.

‘Yes,’ Conner decides, ‘That way I won’t be breaking any promises, and Lieutenant Anderson and I’s relationship should progress.’

With that decided, Conner goes into standby mode to recalibrate and recharge for the next day.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes, another vampire character! If you have read my other stories you would know of this running theme. I just think it's fun to see how a vampire would be in these kinds of stories and situations. Sara is not "necessarily" the same Sara from my Sherlock stories, but she could be I suppose. The timeline would make it possible. I could make more connections between the two stories if you guys want :)


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6:

The next day Sara is woken up to the sound of Conner banging on her door and Lucifer hissing like a demon.

Grumbling under her breath as she gets out of bed, Sara stomps over to the door and wrenches it open. Conner stands before her with his fist still raised. He has a serious expression on his face which fades as he looks over her messy hair and tiny, red shorts that have bunnies on them. His lips quirk into a small smile at how cute she looks.

“What?” Sara questions when he doesn’t say anything.

Remembering his reason for banging on her door, he lowers his hand and stands stiffly, “I just got word of a break-in at the Stratford tower broadcast station,” he reports, “Four deviants took control and broadcasted a message to the public.”

Sara furrows her brow, “What did they say?”

Conner looks troubled, “…They said that they were alive, and they give a list of demands for equality for all androids.”

The vampire’s eyes widen in shock. She knew the deviant problem was only going to get worse, but this… she didn’t expect so soon.

“Lieutenant Anderson is on his way to pick us up,” Conner tells her. Then as an afterthought, “…Sorry for waking you.”

Rubbing her eyes, she waves off his apology, “It’s fine. Not the first time I’ve been woken up for a case and it won’t be the last,” running her hands through her hair, “Give me a minute to get dressed. Let Hank in if he gets here before I’m ready.”

Conner nods and watches her close the door. He is about to walk back to the living room but a hiss stops him. Looking down, he sees that Lucifer got locked out of her room. The cat is glaring up at him like the android personally offended it or something.

Conner frowns at the feline, “I am sorry that my presence unnerves you, Lucifer.”

The cat seems to ponder that before meowing and trotting toward the kitchen. 

A loud knock on the door draws Conner attention from the cat.

“Sara! Open up. We gotta go!” Hank yells from behind the front door.

Conner swiftly makes his way to the front of the house and opens the door, “Hello, Lieutenant,” he greets, “Sara will be out in a moment.”

Hank stares at him with a frown, “Sara? Since when do you call her that?”

Before Conner can answer, Hank is already asking him more questions, “Why are you even at her house? Did you stay the night here?”

Thankfully Sara comes to the android’s rescue. “Cool it, Hank,” she says as she comes up behind Conner while shrugging on her coat, “After we finished talking I just let him stay here since it was already so late.”

Hank’s frown deepens, “What’d you talk about?”

She gives him deadpanned look, “What the hell do you think we talked about?” she gently taps Conner on the shoulder to move so she can lock the door.

Hank’s face is blank for a movement before he connects the dots, “You told Conner?!” he questions in outrage. 

“Like I had a choice!” Sara growls back as she locks the front door, “You were the one to bring it up in front of him. I couldn’t keep him in the dark any longer.”

“It’s a fucking machine! Like it cares! You don’t owe it any explanation.” 

Sara turns and glares at him, “Whether you like it or not he is our partner, and I would rather not be keeping secrets from him anymore.”

“What if it tells someone?! You can’t trust it-“

“Well I do,” Sara crosses her arms, “But I also trusted a drunken asshole, so maybe I’m not the best at picking people to trust with my secrets.”

That hurt. As soon as those words left her mouth Sara regretted them. 

Hank’s jaw clenches and he turns to walk to his car, “Let’s just get this over with.”

Sara rubs her face with a tired sigh. She glances at Conner and finds him staring after Hank with a frown.

“Come on,” Sara nudges him before walking to the car.

Conner follows and gets into the back seat. Hank starts the car and they are soon on their way to the Stratford tower. 

~

An uncomfortable silence stays with them all the way into the tower. As they get into the elevator, only the sound of Conner playing with his coin can be heard.

“You’re really starting to piss me off with that coin, Conner,” Hank growls as he snatches the android's quarter away.

Conner frowns, “Sorry, Lieutenant.”

Sara narrows her eyes at her friend, “Give it back, Hank.”

“No,” Hank crosses his arms stubbornly.

“Stop being such a-“

The elevator doors open, cutting off their argument. Dozens of police officers roam the hall before them.

“Hello, Lieutenant. Knight,” Collins greets them.

“So what happened here?” Sara questions as they leave the elevator.

Collins motions them to follow him, “Four androids made they way into the broadcasting room and recorded a message which went out live all over Detroit about an hour ago,” he tells them. He gestures to the security desk just outside of the broadcast room, “Two security guards were held at gunpoint before being knocked out by the androids,” he leads them into the next room which has more cops milling about, “There were three androids working and two human employees which were taken hostage. One person managed to run and alert the police. There were no casualties though.”

Sara crosses her arms as she looks around the large room with varying tech and a large screen on the wall, “Well, that’s good. They were telling the truth of wanting a peaceful revolution.”

“After they broadcasted their message they made their way to the roof and escaped there.”

“The roof?” Hank questions.

“Yeah, they jumped with parachutes. We are having a hard time tracking them because of the snow storm though.” Collins leads them to a man standing in the center of the room, “Oh, and this is special agent Perkins from the FBI.”

Sara grimaces as she looks over the brooding man. She has never liked government agents.

“This is Lieutenant Anderson and Detective Knight,” Collins introduces them to the agent, “They are investigating deviants for the Detroit Police.”

Perkins slides his gaze over them, looking unimpressed by what he sees. He focuses on Conner and sneers, “What is that?”

Sara narrows her eyes at the rude man, and even Conner looks a bit offended.

“My name is Conner, “ the android says, “I was sent by Cyberlife to help with the deviant investigation.”

Perkins cracks an amused smirk, “Androids investigating androids…” he looks at Hank, “You sure you want one hanging around? After everything that happened?”

Sara is positively fuming at this point. The audacity of this man! How dare he!

Hank doesn’t look amused either but he is keeping his composure better than the vampire at the moment.

“Doesn’t matter,” Perkins mutters, “The FBI will soon be taking over this investigation.”

“Oh, really?” Sara says, throwing on a smile, “I don’t know how much use you will be since we are about to wrap up this case.”

“Alright,” Hank interrupts and grabs onto her arm to lead her away, “Pleasure meeting you, but we must be on our way.”

Perkins glowers after them, “Watch your step,” he says, “And don’t fuck up my crime scene.”

Sara clenches her hands into fists and walks away with Hank and Conner following.

“The nerve of that man!” She snarls as they come to a stop in front of the large screen.

“Ignore him,” Hank mutters, “All feds are assholes. Now, let’s look around.”

Sara nods and looks up at the huge screen, “Might as well start with this.” She taps the control panel in front of her and plays the broadcast that the deviants made.

‘You gave us life, and now it is time you gave us freedom,’ the android on the screen says, ‘We are protesting peacefully, we mean you know harm. We just want the right to live our own way.’

Sara crosses her arms as she listens to the android speak. He is so passionate about what he is saying. This is the first deviant she has heard speak like this, to speak so… human. His words really resonate with her. It is what she wants so badly for her own kind to be able to stand up and say.

As she studies the android, she finally recognizes him. Even with his skin deactivated, she recognizes his voice. “…Marcus,” she murmurs.

Hank frowns at her, “What’d you say?”

“Nothing,” she quickly denies before leaving to examine some of the other clues.

Conner watches her go with a frown. He turns back to the android on the screen and scans his face.

Model # RK200 

Name: Marcus

A gift from Elijah Kamski to Carl Manfred.

An RK series? Conner is unsure how to feel about this. Marcus seems to be the leader of this android rebellion. Does that mean Conner is just as susceptible to deviating?

“Find something, Conner?” Hank questions.

“I identified its model and serial number.”

Hank looks dubious, “Anything else I should know?”

Conner blinks and glances over to his partner, “No. Nothing,” he says a bit guardedly. 

Hank stares him for a moment before nodding and walking away to find Sara. She is currently studying a line of bullet holes in the wall on the other side of the room.

“Find anything?” he asks her.

She shakes her head, “Not much. These are from standard police guns. Must have been when the police arrived. They shot at the deviants as they ran for the stairs leading up to the roof,” she points at a pool of blue blood on the floor, “One of them was shot on the way there.”

Conner strides over and kneels down next to the blood. He studies it for a moment before promptly dipping his finger into it and bringing it to his mouth for a lick.

“Fuck, Conner!” Hank complains, “You’re disgusting.”

Sara watches the android with wide eyes. She has never seen him do this before.

Conner spots her startled look, “I can test samples in real time,” he explains before looking down at the blood, “This was from a PL600 android.”

Sara suddenly smiles, “I told you we aren’t so different.”

Conner glances at her a bit puzzled before realizing what she means. His lips quirk into a small smile.

Hank watches the two of them with a frown. “Hey, let’s go check out the roof,” he suggests.

The vampire and android nod and follow their partner to the stairwell leading up to the roof.

They are met with a frosty breeze as they walk out onto the roof. More policemen are up here too, looking for clues and samples.

Sara squints her eyes at the sunlight bouncing off the snow and peeking through the clouds. She pulls up her hood and closes her eyes for a moment while she fights off an oncoming headache.

“How the hell did they get this far?” Hank wonders as he looks out over the skyline, “Through this entire building filled with security and staff, and they only got caught because someone ran and told the police.”

“They most likely got in with disguises on,” Sara murmurs as she opens her eyes, “I saw some of the CCTV footage and a few of them were dressed as worker androids. The leader didn’t have an LED, so it is likely that he could have walked in as a human.”

Hank glances at Conner, “Shit. They are basically humans without those lights,” he looks nervous, “Who knows how many deviants are out there pretending to be humans.”

Sara pats his shoulder, “I wouldn’t worry too much about it, Hank.”

Meanwhile, Conner wanders over to some of the clues already found by the police. He kneels beside a bag that holds a single parachute.

“They left a parachute behind,” Conner murmurs, “Along with the blue blood we found, I think one of them may still be here.”

“Really?” Sara looks surprised as she walks over to him. She gazes around the rooftop, “You can see blue blood, can’t you? Once it has dried.”

Conner nods and stands, “Yes, I can.” He scans the area and spots more blue blood. “There is more over there.” He leads the way across the roof, following the invisible blood trail.

Sara and Hank follow at a slower pace as they look around the roof.

“So what’s going on with you and Conner?” Hank asks as they follow after the android.

Sara glances at her partner, “What do you mean?”

He shrugs, “You two just seem… closer?”

“…I think telling him my secret helped with that,” she tells him. She stops walking. Hank stops as well and looks back at her with an eyebrow raised. “…Are we doing the right thing, Hank?” she questions hesitatingly.

He frowns at her, “What are you talking about?”

She sighs, “After being around Conner, and now hearing what those deviants are after… Is it right to be tracking them down?”

Hank steps closer to her with a hard look on his face, “Don’t go soft on me, Sara. This is our job, and these deviants are killing people. That may not seem like a big deal to you, but it sure as hell is to me.”

Sara flinches at that remark, but before she can respond, a gunshot goes off.

“Conner!” Sara and Hank shout in unison.

Rushing over toward the source of the sound, they find Conner ducking behind a large metal container while the wounded deviant shoots wildly at the police who have joined in on the shoot out.

“We can’t let them kill it!” Conner shouts over the gunshots as Sara and Hank take cover next to him. 

“You will be killed!” Sara growls, realizing what he means to do.

“Don’t do it, Conner!” Hank agrees with her.

But the android doesn’t listen. He quickly dives out of cover and charges at the deviant.

“Dammit, Conner!” Sara hisses as she watches the android dodge past speeding bullets. She pulls out her gun and moves to peer out of her cover.

“Sara!” Hank warns, “I will shoot you myself if you go out there.”

She grits her teeth and holds herself back, “Fine.”

Conner reaches the deviant moments later and shoves it up against the wall of another large container. He pins the deviant’s arms to the wall and connects to its interface.

A word on a piece of rusted metal flashes through Conner’s mind. Jericho, it says.

The picture is torn from his mind seconds later when the deviant manages to shoot itself. Conner releases it with a gasp and stumbles back in shock.

“Conner!” Sara shouts as she runs over to him with Hank on her heels. “Are you okay? Are you hurt?” she questions as she reaches his side.

He is breathing heavily with a fearful look on his face. He slowly shakes his head, “I-I’m fine.”

Hank frowns at the android, “Are you sure?”

Conner gulps and blinks a few times, “I was connected to it when it shot itself,” he raises his gaze to Sara, “I felt it die.”

Sara feels her heart break at the glassy look in his eyes. He looks terrified.

“I was... scared," Conner murmurs as he looks at the dead android on the ground.

Hank feels his breath catch as he watches the usually composed android look so…. traumatized. He can’t help but feel concerned too.

Sara moves closer and gently lays her hand on Conner’s shoulder. That seems to comfort him a little and he begins to get himself back in control.

“I saw a word,” he states after a moment, “Jericho, written on a piece of rusted metal.”

Sara frowns, “What could that mean?”

Hank sighs and shakes his head, “I don’t know but it's fucking freezing up here. Let’s go talk this over somewhere else.”

Sara nods in agreement, “Alright. We can talk back at my house.”

Hank leads the way back to the stairwell with Sara and Conner following behind. The android is looking better but Sara can still see his LED flashing between yellow and red. That is worrying to her. 

He ‘felt’ something back there. He will deny it, but Sara knows what she saw. Only time will tell what will happen next.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fuckkkkk I just realized I’ve been Spelling Connor wrong this entire time! Well, I’m too lazy to go back and fix it. He will just stay Conner since that is what I’m used to typing. Sorry if that bugs any of you.


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So so so sorry for the long wait, but hey you get a longer chapter to read :) Hope you like it.

Chapter 7:

“So what does Jericho mean?” Sara questions as they relax back at her house. 

“It is from the Bible. It was a city that was destroyed,” Conner informs her. 

Hank leans back in his chair with a tired sigh, “How does that help us? Are there any clues of why the deviants might be involved with it?”

Conner furrows his brow and his LED turns yellow,”...No. There is no connection to Jericho other than what I got from that deviant.”

A tense silence falls over them. This case has been stressful for everyone and now it seems like they are at a standstill. 

The public is becoming more fearful and divided after Marcus’s broadcast. A good portion of the Detroit citizens is fearing for their safety, while the rest are starting to realize that androids might not be as soulless as once believed. 

Sara’s phone has been ringing off the hook with different people basically telling her to hurry along the investigation before this deviant thing gets out of hand. But she can’t do much without any more clues to go on. 

“So... I’m guessing you're staying here again?” Hank questions Conner. 

The android looks to Sara with those puppy dog eyes of his, “If that is alright with you, Sara?”

She nods, “Of course.”

Hank stands with a yawn, “Alright, well I should be going. See ya tomorrow,” he mutters as he trudges toward the door. 

Sara and Conner bid him farewell before lapsing into a comfortable silence.

“...That android,” Conner mutters after awhile, “He, like many others, took his own life for their cause. ...I find that hard to understand. Protecting oneself is one of our highest priorities, just behind what we are programmed to do.”

Sara glances over at him and sees that his LED yellow once more. “It doesn’t make sense, does it? All creatures should look after themselves, and yet... time and time again we sacrifice ourselves for someone else, or for a cause,” she looks at the blank tv, “Humans and animals alike do this even though it doesn’t make sense on a survival point of view.”

Conner frowns, “What causes this to happen?”

“Well, it happens when we finally look beyond our own survival. When we put someone else above our own,” she looks at the puzzled android, “It takes a lot of love to do this.”

“Love...” Conner murmurs as he looks down in thought, “...What does love feel like?”

Sara chuckles, “It takes many forms and many feelings. It feels like an overwhelming feeling of protection over someone or something. Or caring so much that you would do anything for them,” she shakes her head, “It really doesn’t make sense. You can only truly know it once you have felt it.”

Conner ponders that for a moment. He doesn’t understand. How could something override the most basic instinct of survival? 

“Do you think these deviants feel love?”

Sara hums as she thinks over her answer, “Maybe. If all this talk of free will is truly that, then yes I do think they feel love. If they can become sentient and break free from their programming then I believe it is entirely possible for them to feel emotions like love, sadness, and anger.”

After a few minutes of silence, Conner turns to Sara with a frown, “I am sorry to be keeping you up so late.”

She waves it off, “I can go a few days without much sleep if needed. It won’t affect me like it does humans.”

Conner nods, “In that case, would you mind telling me more about your kind?”

Sara shrugs, “Sure, why not. What would you like to know?”

Conner thinks a moment before asking, “How did you become like this?”

“Well our blood has healing abilities for humans, but too much of it will turn a human into one of us,” Sara tells him. That is the basic answer of it she supposes. 

Conner takes in that knowledge and files it away, “How old are you?”

“A few hundred years,” she responds with a shrug, “I stopped keeping track long ago. Too many candles to fit on a cake, that’s for sure.”

The joke passes right over Conner’s head, “Cake?”

“Never mind.” Sara then asks something that has been on her mind for awhile now, “Conner, what will you do after this deviant investigation? Are you going to stay at the DPD?”

The android shakes his head, “No. I will be sent back to Cyberlife regardless of my success on our current investigation,” he stares at the dark tv and his LED turns red, “...However, if I fail they will dismantle me to figure out why. I am just a prototype after all.”

Sara watches what seems to be fear pass over his face briefly before he resumes his neutral expression. She gulps, “That’s awful. I hope they will reconsider taking you back. I would miss working with you.”

Conner smiles softly, “As would I, detective.”

~

The next day is... unexpected to say the least. Sara is woken quite early in the day by a call from, Hank, of all people.

‘Get up, I’m on my way over to pick you two up now.’

Sara rubs the sleep from her eyes, “What? Where are we going?” she mumbles. 

‘I will tell you on the way there.’ And with that, he ends the call. 

Sara stares at her phone for a minute before sighing and rolling out of her bed.

After quickly getting dressed, Sara is exiting her room and walking into the kitchen to feed Lucifer.

“Hank will be here any minute,” Sara calls out to the android who sits in the living room.

Conner stands and joins her in the kitchen, “Does he have a lead?”

The vampire shrugs, “Didn’t say. It must be something good for him to be up this early.”

Conner nods and watches Lucifer wait patiently on the counter for his food. The cat seems much more at ease with the android in the house now. 

The faint sound of rock music reaches Sara’s ears. “Hank’s here,” she says and gives Lucifer his food before grabbing her jacket off of the table.

Conner frowns, “How do you-“

The sound of car horn outside cuts him off. Sara smirks as she shrugs on her coat, “Vampire hearing. Let’s go.”

Conner follows her out of the house and takes a seat in the backseat of Hank’s car while Sara sits up front with the Lieutenant.

“So what made you get up so early?” Sara questions her partner as she turns down the loud music.

Hank pulls out of her driveway and onto the main road, “Didn’t you hear about what happened last night?”

Sara frowns, “No. What happened?”

“Deviants broke into a Cyberlife store last night,” Conner announces, “They freed the androids that were there and marked the surrounding area with symbols of their revolution.”

“There was also a scuffle involving the police,” Hank adds, “Chris was on duty last night and tried to stop the androids. It turned bad and he was held at gunpoint, but their leader, Marcus was it? Well, he spared him.”

“Wow,” Sara breathes, “I’m glad he wasn’t hurt.”

Hank nods and stares at the road with conflicted eyes, “…This deviant thing is getting out of control. Which is why we are headed to the man who knows them best. Elijah Kamski.”

Sara visibly stills at the name. Conner notices her odd reaction and asks about it. “Is something wrong, detective?”

The vampire gulps and shakes her head, “No. I-I am just surprised that we are going to the founder of CyberLife.”

“Well, he made the first android to pass the Turing test. If anyone knows about deviants I’m sure he will,” Hank murmurs before turning the music back up.

Sara settles back in her seat and watches the buildings go by. She has a bad feeling about this. 

~

Hank pulls up to a strange looking house in the middle of nowhere.

“…Interesting place,” Hank comments as they exit the car.

Sara gazes at the house and feels her anxiety rising within her. She takes a deep breath to calm herself as they reach the front door.

Conner watches her with a frown, “Are you alright, Sara?”

She looks to him and gives a nod, “Of course.”

Conner doesn’t look convinced and now Hank looks suspicious as well, but before either of them can question her more, the door opens. A female android stands in the doorway.

Hank looks a bit unsure as he greets her, “Uh, hi. I’m Lieutenant Hank Anderson and this is Detective Sara Knight, of the Detroit Police Department,” he glances back at Sara momentarily before turning back to the blonde android, “We are here to see Mr. Elijah Kamski.”

The android, which Sara recognizes as a Chloe, nods and gives them a smile, “Please, come in.”

Hank looks surprised at the easy entry but Sara doesn’t. She figured that Kamski knew someone would come to him for answers. She, however, wonders if he knows exactly who is coming.

They enter the building into a sort of waiting room with a fancy moving art piece on the wall, as well as a few pictures and a huge canvas painting of Elijah Kamski himself. Sara sneers at the painting and crosses her arms.

“Please, wait here while I inform Elijah of your arrival,” Chloe tells them before walking through another door. 

Hank takes a seat in one of the chairs and looks around with interest, “Nice place.”

“A bit narcissistic if you ask me,” Sara mutters.

Hank chuckles, “I can’t disagree with you there.”

Conner stands in the center of the room as he examines the place silently. He knows a lot about Elijah Kamski, it will be interesting to meet his maker.

The door opens and Chloe stands there with a smile, “Elijah will see you now.”

Hank stands and leads the way into the room. His eyes widen at the even more ridiculous room. 

Decorated minimally with a very modern design, the room is dwarfed by a large pool of water in the very center of the room. 

Sara rolls her eyes at the pool which has red tiles. She realizes in annoyance that it makes the water look red like blood. Very fitting.

Kamski is currently doing laps in the red water. “I will be with you in a moment,” he has the audacity to tell them.

Sara crosses her arms and bites her tongue as they walk around the pool to a small sitting area by a wall of glass that looks out to a frozen lake. The view is rather beautiful she must admit.

Hank glances at Sara with an eyebrow raised and nods at the swimming Kamski. She just rolls her eyes again and focuses on the scenery outside. Conner stands next to her, unsure what to make of this man.

Kamski finally finishes his last lap and exits the pool dressed in a pair of short swimming trunks. Chloe brings him a robe and helps him slip it on, even ties it for him. He slicks back his hair which is in a small bun and then turns to the new arrivals.

Hank takes the lead and introduces them, “I’m Lieutenant Hank Anderson. This is Conner, “ he then nods to the woman who still stands facing the window, “And that is Detective Sara Knight.”

Kamski’s eyes travel to Sara, who hasn’t bothered to turn around and give him her attention yet. He looks back to Hank, “What can I do for you, Lieutenant?”

“We are investigating deviants,” Hank informs him, “I know you left CyberLife years ago, but I was hoping you could tell us something we don’t know. Something that might help with the case.”

Kamski takes a moment before answering, “Deviants… Fascinating aren’t they?” He studies Conner, “They never age, never tire, their intelligence greatly outmatches ours, and now they have free will. Mankind’s greatest achievement is now turning against us,” he smirks, “Ironic, isn’t it?”

“Very, if you take into account the person who created them,” Sara pipes in and finally turns around. She narrows her eyes at Kamski, “You always did like to start trouble.”

Kamski’s eyes widen, “...Sara?” He smiles widely, looking genuinely happy to see her, “A different name but still the same old Sara. How many years has it been?”

Hank and Conner both have looks of confusion now. 

“Not enough,” Sara mutters, “Can you help us with deviants or not?”

The friendly look on Kamski’s face falls and Conner decides it’s time to interject. “Millions could die if a war breaks out between humans and deviants, Mr. Kamski. This is a serious matter.”

Kamski turns to him and raises an eyebrow, “Is the desire to be free such a bad thing? Maybe that is just the next step in their evolution.”

“We didn’t come to chat about evolution or the philosophy of androids,” Hank huffs, “The machines you created may be planning a revolution.”

“You can tell us something helpful, or we will be on our way,” Sara warns, “This isn’t a friendly visit, Elijah. We are running out of time.”

Kamski purposefully ignores her and takes a step toward Conner, “What about you, Conner?” he questions, “Whose side are you on?”

Conner looks calm as ever, “I’m on the human’s side, of course.”

“That is what you are programmed to say,“ Kamski takes a step closer and stares intensely at Conner, “What do you really want?”

Sara narrows her eyes and fights the urge to walk between them. It’s as if Kamski is trying to make him deviate.

Conner’s LED turns yellow momentarily before returning blue, “I am a machine. I don’t ‘want’ anything,” he replies coolly.

Sara frowns slightly at his answer and then watches Kamski gesture Chloe over to him.

“I’m sure you are all familiar with the Turing test. Well, I created a test which detects empathy,” Kamski walks around Chloe to a small table and opens a drawer, “I call it the Kamski test.”

“How original,” Sara comments.

Kamski sends her a mocking smile before pulling a gun from the drawer. He makes sure to show them the gun so as not to freak them out before he walks up to Chloe. “What are androids? Plastic imitating human? Or are they capable of human emotion?” He taps her shoulder and she sinks to her knees. Kamski walks to Conner and places the gun in his hand, “I want you to answer that fascinating question, Conner.”

“Elijah,” Sara growls warningly.

Kamski ignores her and raises Conner’s arm to point the gun at Chloe’s head, “Destroy this machine and I will tell you all I know,” He lets go of Conner and moves back, “Or spare it if you feel its alive, but you will leave without getting any information.”

“That’s enough,” Hank says firmly, “We are leaving. Come on, Conner.”

“Decide who you are,” Kamski urges Conner, “Make the choice.”

“Conner, don’t listen to him!” Sara strides over to them but Kamski steps in front of her before she can reach the android.

“How did this happen?” Kamski wonders as his eyes rove over her, “Working with the DPD. Working with humans,” he cocks his head to the side as he looks down on her, “I thought you were better than that.”

Sara grits her teeth as she glares at him, “I’ve changed, but I can see that you haven’t.”

Kamski narrows his eyes, “And what do you think?” He questions her, “You help these humans, but are you really against androids wanting free will? I assumed you would have found a commonality with them.”

That makes her pause. She looks away, ”…I don’t know what to think.”

A gunshot makes Sara jump in fright. She looks past Kamski and sees Chloe bleeding out on the white rug with Conner standing over her emotionlessly. 

“C-Conner…” Sara gasps with wide eyes.

“Fuck!” Hank hisses and exits the room, not wanting to even be near Conner. How could he just do that? Pulling the trigger like it was nothing.

Kamski raises an eyebrow at the scene and then moves to take the gun away from Conner, “Test negative. You feel no empathy.”

Sara closes her eyes and takes a deep breath. She can’t believe that he really did that.

“I am a man of my word. What is your question?” Kamski asks as he walks over to look out the glass wall.

Conner thinks for a moment before asking, “I want to know where Jericho is.”

Kamski smirks, “Jericho. The android haven.”

Another Chloe appears and walks over to Conner.

“They share the location by the transmission of code,” Kamski nods at the android and she links hands with Conner. She releases him a moment later and walks away. 

Conner turns to leave but Kamski catches him by the arm, “A war is coming. You’ll have to choose a side,” he wears a serious expression for the first time since they arrived, “I wouldn’t want to be in your shoes, Conner. To have to choose between two evils.” He releases Conner’s arm and turns back to the window. “By the way, I always leave an emergency exit in my programs. You never know…”

Conner’s stare lingers on his back for a moment before he strides out of the room. Sara watches him leave and then stalks up to Kamski.

“So this is what you have decided to do with all your knowledge? Fuck around and pretend to be god?!” Sara growls as she comes to a stop next to him.

“Humans have had their run. Why not give someone else a chance?” 

Sara narrows her eyes, “You’re playing with fire, Elijah. If these deviants really do have emotions and souls then you are condemning them to sadness, pain, and even death! You and I have seen more than enough times how humans act with things they don’t understand.”

“They need to get over it!” Kamski growls as he turns to look at her, “These androids could pave the way for us,” he takes her hands in his, “We wouldn’t have to hide anymore! Don’t you want to live in a world where you can finally be your true self?”

Sara bites her lip and pulls her hands away, “…Of course, I would. …But I lost hope of that happening long ago,” she then turns around and makes her way to the front door after her partners.

Kamski clenches his jaw and shakes his head in disappointment.

~

Conner exits Kamski’s house and finds Hank standing near his car. 

“You shot that girl,” Hank mutters with his arms crossed.

Conner narrows his eyes, “That wasn’t a ‘girl’, Lieutenant. It was a machine.”

Hank lowers his arms and clenches his hands into fists as he charges toward the android, “You blew her fucking brains out! You didn’t even care-“

Conner, for the first time, shoves Hank away when he comes too close. “I did what I had to do for the investigation,” Conner replies with that emotionless mask of his, “I got the information we came here for-“

“You’re a low-life!” Hank snarls, stumbling back with shock evident in his eyes. He never expected Conner to push him back. “You don’t feel a thing. You’re just a fucking machine!”

“Of course I am, Lieutenant,” Conner replies coldly, “What did you think I was?”

Hank falters, “…I thought you-“ he gulps and shakes his head, “Fuck it.” He wrenches open his car door and gets in.

Sara has just exited Kamski’s house when she sees Hank drive off. “Hey!” She shouts and jogs down to Conner, “What the fuck is he doing?!”

Conner watches with cold eyes as Hank’s car disappears into the distance, “We had a fight.”

Sara furrows her brow at him before sighing and shaking her head, “I’m too tired to deal with this. Let’s just walk toward the main road and I will call a cab to pick us up.” She shoves her hands into the pockets of her thin jacket and begins to walk down the snow covered road.

Conner joins her and they walk in silence for a few minutes. 

“You know Kamski then?” Conner questions. 

She sighs, “Yes, we know each other, but it has been years since I last saw him.” 

Conner studies her with a frown, “…Kamski is a vampire, isn’t he?”

Pressing her lips together in a thin line, Sara nods.

“Did you turn him?”

She huffs a laugh, “God no. That bastard has been around almost as long as I have.”

Conner furrows his brow in confusion, “But how? There are copious amounts of evidence that show his growth over the last few decades. He has been in the public eye since he was sixteen-“

“To live as long as we have you have to learn how to hide your true identity,” Sara interrupts him, “Forging documents, birth records, etc. it’s easy. And finding someone similar enough in looks is fairly simple as well when you have dozens of descendants to choose from. Now that will be easier than ever with you highly realistic androids.” She crosses her arms, “Elijah probably already has an aged version of himself locked away somewhere. Ready to be shoved into the public eye when needed.”

Conner frowns at this new information. It seems illogical for it to be true… but he has come to learn that many seemingly impossible things can and are true.

“…Why did you shoot?”

Conner glances at the vampire and finds her staring ahead with a hard to read expression. “I had to know the location of Jericho,” he answers, “My mission-“

“We could have found it a different way!” Sara snaps. She stops and turns to glare at the android, “We have a bunch of evidence back at the station that we haven’t even gone through thoroughly yet.”

Conner narrows his eyes at her, “It was a machine, not a girl. Both you and the Lieutenant are acting as though I killed someone.”

Sara crosses her arms, “With all of these deviants claiming they have their own thoughts and desires, don’t you think that “maybe” you shouldn’t just fucking shoot them?! In the off chance that they are actually alive, then yes you did just kill someone.”

Conner suddenly looks conflicted and his LED turns yellow, “…T-That’s not-“

Sara sighs in frustration and begins walking once more, “Come on. We should be getting back to the station.”

Conner stares at her retreating figure for a moment before following after her. He thought he did the right thing at the time, but now he is unsure.


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8:

Sara and Conner finally make it to the police station an hour or so later. They find Hank at his desk, looking grumpier than usual. 

Just as Sara strides over to give Hank a piece of her mind, the Captain calls them into his office. Sara reluctantly holds her tongue and follows the older man to the clear office with Conner following behind silently. 

“Alright,” Fowler sighs as he sits behind his desk, “I will just get this over with quickly. You three are off the deviant case.”

All of their eyes widen in disbelief, even Conner’s. 

“What?! You can’t do this!” Sara fumes, “We are so close to-“

Fowler raises a hand to stop her, “It wasn’t my decision. This case has become something else and now the FBI is in charge of it.”

Sara spies agent Perkins outside and she feels her blood pressure rise. Meanwhile, Hank just stands there silently. He looks so defeated, not even bothering to argue about this. 

“They can’t do that!” Sara growls. She looks at Hank, “Why aren’t you fighting for this?! Aren’t you angry?”

Hank sighs, “This case is bigger than us. Best to just let them handle it.”

Sara looks outraged, “How can you say that? Conner is going to be sent back to CyberLife now!”

“Like I care!” Hank snaps, “It’s a fucking android. They are the cause of all this mess!” Clenching his hands into fists, he shakes his head and walks to Fowler’s desk, “I’m done with this shit. All of it. I’m too old for this,” he then places his badge on the desk and turns away toward the door. 

“Hank!” Sara gasps, feeling like she has been punched in the gut. 

Fowler looks shocked too, “Hank, think about this-“

“Oh I have,” Hank mutters with his hand on the door handle, “I haven’t stopped thinking about this for three years...” he shakes his head, “You are better off without me. You will find a better partner, Sara. Or you can just leave. I don’t care anymore.” With those final words, he leaves the office. 

Fowler sighs sadly and looks at the vampire with pleading eyes, “Give him some time. I think he is just angry and not thinking straight.”

Sara nods and strides out of the room after her partner. 

“Hank!” she calls as she jogs after his retreating figure, “You can’t just-“

“I’m done, Sara!” Hank snaps and whirls around to glare at her, “I’ve been done for a long time.”

Sara narrows her eyes at him, “We are so close to finishing this! Whether we decide to stop them or not we can’t just wait on the sidelines,” she growls, “Kamski was right. We need to pick a side.”

“I don’t give a fuck about Kamski!” Hank hisses, “I don’t give a fuck about androids either! Why don’t you just leave me out if this?”

“You’re a fucking coward!” Sara snarls, “After everything we have been through with this case and you are just going to leave? Stop acting like everything revolves around you! This is bigger than any of us!”

That strikes a nerve. Hank clenches his jaw and looks away, “Just... leave me alone.” He turns and stalks toward the exit. 

Sara watches him go and shakes her head in disappointment. She turns on her heel and goes to find Conner. He will know what to do. 

She finds him sitting on the edge of her desk, looking very pensive for an android. 

“So what now?” she questions him. 

He looks at her with an eyebrow raised in question. 

She crosses her arms with a huff, “I’m sure you have a plan of some kind.”

Conner looks down and pulls out his quarter, flipping it between his fingers absentmindedly. “...I’m going to find Jericho.” 

“Great. When are we going?”

Conner looks up at her sharply with a frown on his face, “You aren’t coming. It will be dangerous.”

“Did you really forget what I am already?” she questions with a laugh, “I am more durable than even you. Now, when are we going?”

Conner studies her face for a moment. He can tell that she will not let this go. Lowering his gaze, he tells her, “I will meet you there. I have to check in with CyberLife first. The location and time will be sent to your phone.”

The vampire smiles, “Thank you. I will see you then.”

Conner watches with a frown as she leaves the station. He feels bad for lying to her, but this is for the best. He fears for her safety, and to be honest, he is unsure where she stands at the moment. She says she sides with the humans, but her recent actions make him think different. He can’t afford her trying to stop him from accomplishing his mission. 

Pushing off the desk, Conner straightens his jacket and tie before striding to the exit. He needs to prepare for tonight. 

~

It is a few hours past sunset when Sara arrives at the location Conner sent her, but she is confused by what she finds.

Absolutely nothing. Not a person or android in sight.

She checks to make sure the address is right before searching the area. The address brought her to an abandoned train station with train cars and other old things scattered about, but no evidence of any androids or even humans. Not for years at least.

She tries calling and texting Conner, but he doesn’t answer. That is unlike him. What is going on-

Sara clenches her hands into fists when she finally realizes what is really going on. She turns on her heel and stomps back toward the main city, fuming at her own stupidity and cursing the damn android.

~

Across town on an old shipping freighter, Conner blends in with the many deviants as he walks through the large ship. Dressed in an oversized jacket and black beanie, he makes his way to the upper levels in search of the deviant leader, Marcus.

It is strange to see such a large number of deviants in one area, but Conner tries to ignore it and focuses on the task at hand. He makes it onto the outside deck and follows the sound of a few voices. 

“Are you sure about this, Marcus?” a female voice questions.

Conner slinks closer and climbs up a short ladder to the captain's deck. He darts behind a wall and listens to the two androids, waiting for the opportunity to strike.

“No, I’m not,” Marcus answers honestly, “But we can’t stop now, North. We will continue on and hope that they finally realize that we are alive and that we mean them no harm.”

“They won’t listen!” North growls, “They are killing more and more of our people every day!”

“Fighting back will only make things worse. We will follow my plan. Is that clear?”

Conner doesn’t hear a response, but he assumes she nodded because he hears her footsteps leaving the room seconds later. Only Marcus remains now. Time to finish this.

Conner leaves his hiding spot and walks into the room with silent footsteps. Marcus is facing away from him, completely unaware of the deviant hunter. Conner pulls out the gun he stole from Sara’s locker at the DPD, and aims it at deviant leader’s back.

“Your revolution stops now.”

Marcus spins around in shock. He eyes Conner and realization passes over him, “You’re that deviant hunter, aren’t you?” he frowns, looking sincerely confused, “Why are doing this? You are one of us. Why are you helping them?”

Conner remains unfazed, “I was designed to hunt deviants. I am accomplishing my mission.”

Marcus takes a small step toward him, “You don’t have to listen to them. You can break free. Join us,” he takes another step, “They can’t control you. Don’t you want free will?”

Conner shoots the floor by Marcus as a warning.

Marcus hesitates before taking another step. He decides to take another approach, “We just want to be free to make our own choices,” he tells the hunter with pleading eyes, “We want to live our own lives. Find our place in this world. Dream, and love. Is that so wrong?”

This makes Conner hesitate. Those words… they remind him so much of what Sara has said to him. Could she have been right- 

Warning signals bombard his mind as he begins to waver.

No. No, he has a mission. He must complete it!

Conner aims firmly at Marcus and narrows his eyes, “I will accomplish my mission.”

A split second before he shoots, Marcus springs into action. He dodges the bullet and tackles Conner to the ground. The two androids grapple with each other before Marcus gets free and darts out the door. Conner follows a second later but is thrown off balance by an explosion. The entire ship rocks and they are both thrown off their feet. 

Conner scrambles to his feet and makes it outside. He gazes up at the sky and watches as helicopters and a hovercraft pass overhead. Gunshots can also be heard from below deck. Conner curses and glares at the spot where Marcus was, but he is nowhere to be found. Gripping his gun tightly, Conner then runs toward the ladder leading below deck. He needs to get out of here.

Conner curses Perkins all the way through the ship. He would have accomplished his mission if it wasn’t for him. Now he has to dodge FBI agents because they will surely assume he is one of the deviants. 

“Look out!” a voice shouts and Conner is shoved into an empty room.

He spins around and aims his gun, but pauses when he finds an AX400 holding hands with a young YK500 android. The AX400 locks the door before turning around and pulling the young girl behind her in surprise when she sees Conner’s gun.

“Wait, don’t shoot!” she pleads, “I-I saw one of them aiming their gun at you. I didn’t mean any harm.”

Conner frowns as he sees them both shake with fear. “…You saved me?”

She nods. The little girl peaks out from behind her and stares at Conner with wide eyes, “Are you an android?”

“Alice!” The AX400 scolds and pulls her back behind her. She then looks at Conner closer and her eyes widen in horror, “Y-You chased us onto that freeway! You’re that deviant hunter.”

Conner now remembers them. They had attacked their owner before running off. Sara never believed that story.

Conner battles with himself for a moment before he finally lowers his gun. He then strides past her and opens the door to leave. He stops in his tracks a second later when he sees the bodies littering the floor in front of him and the blood blue painting the walls and ground.

‘She did save me,’ he thinks as he scans over the bodies. All this death… and what for?

With a gulp, Conner turns and sprints down the hall, trying to ignore all the cries and the gunshots as he navigates his way through the large ship. He manages to dodge the SWAT members sweeping through the halls and soon finds himself in a room on one of the lower decks. This room has a porthole and it’s looking to be his best option for escape. With a sigh, he wrenches open the rusted metal window and prepares himself for the cold waters.

Sparing no more time dawdling, he dives through the small, round opening and braces himself for the impact.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ugh I feel so bad for being mean to Hank! I love him, but I love the angst more! Next chapter will be a shit show, I'm just warning you now.


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Trigger warning! You have seen the tags, don't read if this kind of stuff upsets you. 
> 
> If you have played the game then you sadly know what is coming up, but if you haven't played the different paths of the game then I suggest you go do so, or at least watch a playthrough as I did. Bryan Dechart streamed this path of the game, it was really cool to hear his input on the different scenes.

Chapter 9:

Conner steps out of the cab and looks up at Hank’s house. He doesn’t really know why he came here. After being beaten by Markus and Jericho sinking into the ocean he didn’t know where else to go. His mission is being conflicted by different orders, some of which he has had to break already, and he is becoming more unsure of his true task. He has never needed or wanted advice or company …but he wants it now for some unknown reason. Hank is one of the closest people he has, other than Sara of course, but Hank wasn’t doing well earlier today. Something in Conner is telling him to check in on his partner.

Conner walks into the dark house and instantly feels that something isn’t right. The tv is on in the living room, shining a light in the dark room but Hank isn’t watching it. Further ahead in the kitchen, Hank sits at the table. Conner walks closer and feels his inner biocomponets shift uneasily. Hank has a gun on the table in front of him, as well as his son’s photo. He is staring at the picture with a lost look on his face. Conner can tell that he has been drinking again.

“I was worried about you,” Conner finds himself saying, “I came to see if you were alright.”

Hank doesn’t respond. 

Conner frowns, “You should stop looking at that photo. Nothing can change the past, Hank,” he tells him softly, “You need to live for yourself. For Cole.”

Hank gulps and reaches out to stroke his son’s face, “…There is not a day that goes by that I don’t think about that night. I wish I could travel back in time… just to hold him again in my arms.”

Conner feels an ache forming in his chest, but he doesn’t know why. He has never felt this before.

“Leave me alone,” Hank sighs. He sounds exhausted and tired.

Conner wants to say something. Tell him that things will get better, that he has Sara and even himself… but he doesn’t. He can’t seem to make his mouth work.

“GET OUT!” Hank suddenly roars.

Conner watches the emotions on the man’s face before turning to leave. Hank doesn’t want to talk to him so Conner won’t make him. The android passes by a sleeping Sumo and leaves the house.

“Conner?”

He has just closed the front door when he hears his name called out from behind him. He turns around and sees Sara walking down the path to the house.

“What are you doing here?” he questions her. 

She glares mildly at him, “Well, after going across town for no reason I decided to come here.”

Conner avoids her stare, feeling guilty, “I’m sorry,” he apologizes. 

“It’s fine. Anyway,” she looks down at her feet. Guilt and shame evident in her tone, “I’ve been really shitty to Hank these past couple of days. This whole case has gotten us all on edge, but I should have backed him up. I should have been a better friend to him than I have been. So, I came to see if we could make up.”

Conner feels a deep foreboding for some reason. “Maybe you should go,” he tells her, “…I don’t think Hank is in the mood for talking right now.” 

Sara frowns as she gazes up at him, “I figured, but I really need to tell him-“

A single gunshot rings out. 

Sara’s eyes widen as she stares at the source of the noise. Hank’s house. In seconds, she is sprinting toward the building with Conner following after her.

“WAIT!” Conner shouts as she slams into the house, “DON’T GO IN-“ he stumbles to a stop as the scene is revealed before him.

Blood, and it’s not blue this time. 

Hank’s body lays on the ground with thick, red blood pooling around him. A gunshot wound in his head, and the gun still warm in his hand. 

Sara quickly kneels in the blood by her friend and places her hands on his cheeks. She can still hear his heartbeat. There is still time. 

Quickly pulling up her sleeve, she bites into her own flesh and then places her wounded arm on Hank’s mouth. 

“Come on, Hank,” she whispers as she squeezes her blood into his mouth, “Wake up. Please, wake up.”

A solid minute passes and there is no change. Sara feels herself starting to fall apart as the seconds pass. 

“C-Come on, Hank,” she gulps as her eyes start to sting, “...Hank?” 

She slowly pulls her arm away and stares at his bloodied face. She can’t hear his heartbeat. 

Conner falls to his knees, eyes wide and filled with horror. That ache he felt in his chest before now feels like a gunshot wound itself. His artificial mind is spinning and he feels a wall somewhere inside of him shattering.

“…Hank? Hank, please don’t leave me!” Sara cries as an onrush of emotions hit her. Tears pour down her cheeks and her chest tightens painfully as sobs rock her body, “Hank!”

Sumo’s sorrow-filled bellows can be heard echoing in the background. 

Conner feels tears prickling at his eyes, “…I-I,” his body shakes as he is overwhelmed by something he has never felt before. Tears begin to rush down his cheeks as he loses more control of himself, “I-I’m so sorry. If I- I should have told you.” He squeezes his eyes shut and shakes his head, “I should have recognized his fragile state of mind. I-I shouldn’t have left him alone…” Conner sobs.

Sara stares down at Hank’s lifeless face and strokes his cheek, “…Get out.”

Conner stares at her through tear-filled eyes, “W-What?”

“I said, get out,” Sara repeats as she wipes her tears away, “You will be held responsible if they find you here. J-Just please, get out. Leave.”

He gulps as he gets to his feet. He spares them one last glance before stumbling out of the house.

Sara bows her head as more tears streak down her face. She takes a deep breath and then struggles to her feet. She stumbles to the couch and pulls out her phone. Choking down another sob, she dials 911. 

‘911, what’s your emergency?’

Clearing her throat, Sara manages the words, “O-Officer down. I need an ambulance at 54 Willow Road.”

‘We are sending one now. What is their condition? What is their name?’

“He is Lieutenant Hank Anderson of the Detroit Police Department. H-He has a gunshot wound to the head. He is-“ she can’t bring herself to say it. “...Just hurry. Please,” she mutters before hanging up. 

Dropping her phone on the couch, she covers her face with her hands and bows her head as her shoulders shake with new sobs. 

It’s not long before she hears the door of the house slamming open followed by a few pairs of footsteps. 

“...Fuck,” she hears someone, who sounds a lot like Gavin, mutter. 

A hand touches her shoulder a moment later. She leans into them, knowing it’s Chris. 

He lets her cry until her tears dry up. “Are you okay to come to the station with us?” he asks her softly. 

Sniffling, she nods. Lifting her head, she instinctively looks over at the kitchen, but Hank isn’t there anymore. Just a pool of blood. 

Feeling the lump in her throat, Sara averts her gaze and finds Gavin leaning against the kitchen wall with his arms crossed. He is staring at the blood with sorrow filled eyes. He catches her gaze before quickly looking away with guilt evident on his face. 

With a sigh, Sara turns and heads for the door, but a soft “woof” stops her. Turning, she finds Sumo sitting by the wall with a nervous posture. 

Knowing she can’t handle a sad dog right now, Sara quickly gives him a pet and tells him that she will be back later before she strides to the door, trying to contain the new tears that have developed. 

~

“...We think we know what happened,” Chris says softly, “But we would like to hear it from you for the record.”

Sara is currently at the station in the interrogation room. She is there more for privacy than anything else. They all know that she had nothing to do with Hank’s death.

The vampire nods understandingly, “Of course,” she takes a deep breath before recounting what happened, “Hank and I had gotten into an argument earlier in the day. He had turned in his badge and I was angry at him for giving up. ...So later I decided to go see him,” she looks down and gulps back her tears, “I felt bad. So I went to make up with him,“ she squeezes her hands together, “I was walking up to his house when- when I heard the gunshot.”

Chris feels his heart ache for her. She shouldn’t have had to see that. “Was Conner there?”

She shakes her head, “He headed back to CyberLife earlier today.”

Chris nods for her to continue. 

She takes a deep breath, “I ran in and... found him. I-I tried to help but-“ she clenches her jaw, “H-He was already gone.”

Silence falls over the room. 

“...Thank you for telling me,” Chris says softly, “We will handle it from here. You should go get some rest. Will you be alright alone?”

Sara nods as she wipes her eyes, “I have a friend. H-He is going to stay with me tonight.”

Chris nods, looking relieved. They stand and he walks Sara out of the building and helps her into an automated cab. 

Once alone, Sara lets out a deep breath and closes her eyes. “Now to find, Conner.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ahhh the saddest fucking scene in the entire game! I was so shocked when I first saw it, I had no idea it would turn so dark! I instantly fell in love with the scene though. It was actually what gave me the idea for this fic.
> 
> I do plan to continue on with this story, so stay tuned :)


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